Tomsk Region Arouses Interest Of Foreign Secret Services

In 2001, over 10 foreign intelligence agents and about 70 foreigners suspected of having links with national secret services have visited the Tomsk region /Western Siberia/. This information was announced Wednesday at a conference of Russia's FSB /Federal Security Service/ Department in the Tomsk region. The conference was summing up the work in 2001. FSB officials noted that a majority of "spies" were staying in the region within official foreign delegations and were seeking the information at issue through legal channels. The PR service of the local FSB department reported Wednesday that the conference had indicated that the military and industrial sector and the social and political developments in the region still aroused interest of foreign secret services. FSB took adequate measures and extradited 11 foreigners from Russia, denied entry to Russia to three foreigners. Some have been excluded from official delegations. In addition, several attempts by staffers of some Tomsk research institutes to pass over some science intensive technologies abroad, side-stepping the law, have been thwarted. The local FSB department has also obtained and analysed considerable amount of intelligence information of political, economic and scientific character.