Accused Canadian in US-Russia Spy Case Goes Missing in Cyprus
VOA News 30 June 2010
One of 11 suspects accused by the United States of spying for Russia has gone missing in Cyprus after being released on bail.
Cypriot police say Canadian suspect Christopher Robert Metsos failed to show up Wednesday at a police station in the city of Larnaca, where he was expected to sign in.
Police said they were preparing to issue an arrest warrant.
Metsos was the 11th suspect named after U.S. authorities announced the arrests of 10 people accused of carrying out long-term, deep-cover assignments in the United States for the Russian foreign intelligence service, the SVR.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it does not expect the arrests to damage relations with Washington.
The alleged spies are implicated in a plot to gain U.S. information on nuclear weaponry, foreign policy and politics while quietly living and working in the United States.
They face charges of money laundering and failing to register as agents of a foreign government, but have so far not been charged with the more serious offense of espionage.
On Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused U.S. law enforcement of over-reaching, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the U.S. arrests "baseless and improper."
But by Wednesday, Moscow said it had taken note of White House statements a day earlier saying the arrests would not interfere with warming bilateral relations.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama knew about the alleged spy ring before hosting Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at the White House last week, but did not raise the issue during their talks.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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