BRITISH GOVERNMENT TRIES TO HALT BRITISH SPY STORY FROM RUSSIA

In an environment more fitting of a James Bond film, the British government goes to court to try to obtain a High Court injunction, which would make it illegal for any publication in Britain of information published by a disaffected MI6 (Military Intelligence) spy in Russia. Richard Tomlinson was dismissed from MI6 in 1994 and was imprisoned for breach of the Official Secrets Act, when he published his memoirs as a spy in Bosnia and Moscow and spoke openly about how British spies operate abroad. His book is called “The Big Breach: From Top Secret to Maximum Security” and is about to be published in Russia this week. It should be remembered that in 1999, Britain allowed the book “The Mitrokhin Archive”, revealing secrets from the KGB, to be published, apparently with the connivance of MI6. The publication of Tomlinson’s book in Moscow is seen as a revenge move by the FSB. Tomlinson denies any contact with Russian intelligence and states that his book was written on a personal initiative and that it is simply not true that the FSB has anything to do with its publication. Any injunction from the High Court would prohibit any newspaper from printing extracts from the book, which MI6 claims to be a breach of national security. All we need now to complete this story is a dramatic entry by “Bond…James Bond” who asks for his Martini to be “shaken, not stirred”. Tomlinson on the other hand could always claim his book is “From Russia with Love”.

JOHN ASHTEAD Pravda.Ru London