February 2001 World Headlines

Thursday, February 22, 2001 - Web posted at 8:36:40 AM GMT

FBI agent arrested for spying for Russia

WASHINGTON - A 27-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia for the past 15 years, the FBI said on Tuesday.

FBI spokeswoman Jill Stillman said FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested on Sunday at his home outside Washington after he allegedly dropped off a package of classified information at a park in northern Virginia."

"He was arrested for espionage," Stillman told Reuters."

"The damage is significant," one US official said on condition of anonymity.

"The kinds of things he compromised involved documents, sources, operations."

"Among the secrets Hanssen, a counter-terrorism expert, allegedly disclosed were methods the United States uses to conduct electronic surveillance, the FBI said.

Neighbours of Hanssen in Vienna, Virginia, described him as a composed, dedicated, hard-working man who went to church every Sunday with his wife and six children. - Nampa - Reuters

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