Russia accuses UK diplomat of spying

Russia has accused a British diplomat based in Moscow of spying, adding to the already-strained relations between the two countries.

An unnamed source within Russia's intelligence services is said to have accused the diplomat, who has been named in media reports as Chris Bowers, of being a high-ranking secret service officer.

The source also claimed he worked undercover in the 1990s as a BBC reporter in Uzbekistan.

Russian news agency Interfax reported the source as saying: "The activities of Christopher Bowers, a counsellor at the British Embassy in Russia, and probably, simultaneously a senior officer with British Intelligence, are giving rise to questions among Russian intelligence services."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that a member of the British staff is suspected of spying by the Russians. He is the acting director of UK Trade and Industry. However we do not comment on intelligence matters."

Russia claims Mr Bowers was engaged in "suspicious" meetings with activists from the North Caucasus, including Chechnya. Some reports claim he may have been singled out over the struggle for the Anglo-Russian oil giant TNK-BP.

According to reports, British security officials have voiced fears that Russia's intelligence services may have flooded London with agents.

Since the radiation poisoning death of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006, diplomatic relations have become increasingly frosty.

Andrei Lugovoy, a former associate of Mr Litvinenko, is believed to be a main suspect in his murder and the British government has repeatedly demanded that the Russian authorities hand him over, without success.

On Monday, Gordon Brown held a tense meeting with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in which they failed to make progress across a range of issues which have blighted Anglo-Russian relations, including the killing of Mr Litvinenko.

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