Russia Says British Used Rock to Spy

"Whether these organizations want it or not, they become an instrument in the hands of foreign states that use them to achieve their own political objectives," Putin said late last year.

Earlier, FSB head Nikolai Patrushev said the groups provided "fertile ground for conducting intelligence operations under the guise of charity and other activities." He accused the Peace Corps and the British medical charity Merlin of espionage, allegations that both denied.

Neither the TV show nor an FSB official who briefed the Russian media gave any details about the content of the alleged espionage. But the TV report said that "the most important thing lies elsewhere. One of the British diplomats, spies to be more exact, turned out to be connected with some Russian public NGOs."

No evidence was presented that any of the groups had done anything illegal or that the money was provided illegally, only that the groups had contact with Doe.

"This outrageous program was designed to prepare public opinion for this new law so that respected human rights organizations can be closed down," said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group. "First, bad things must be said and human rights organizations must be disgraced. Then they can be closed."

FSB agents on the show displayed papers, allegedly signed by Doe, authorizing disbursement of $40,000 to the Moscow Helsinki Group. Alexeyeva said that the group received a grant from the British two years ago but that Doe had not signed the contracts. She said she had seen Doe at embassy receptions.

The TV program also said Doe had signed off on a $10,000 grant to the Eurasia Foundation. The Eurasia Foundation, based in Washington, is handing over its operations in Russia to the New Eurasia Foundation, a Russian organization that has U.S., European and Russian sponsors.

Andrei Kortunov, head of the New Eurasia Foundation, said Doe had not signed any agreements with his group. The document on the show linking his group to Doe appeared to be an internal embassy document, he said. He said he had never met Doe.

Kortunov said his foundation had received approximately $230,000 from the British Foreign Office for a two-year program to improve management at regional newspapers in Russia to make them more sustainable. "This is a very pure example of technical assistance," Kortunov said. "I'm not James Bond."

Documents featured on the program appeared to show that the British planned to fund a school to train public inspectors in remote areas. "We can only guess at who these inspectors were and what they were going to see in northern Siberia and the Far East," said an unnamed FSB officer quoted in the program.

Ignatchenko said any decision on whether the diplomats would be expelled would be made by the government. The FSB colonel said his agency decided to publicize the alleged espionage when British intelligence representatives denied they were involved in any spying.

"We have a kind of gentlemen's understanding that official intelligence representatives won't engage in espionage," said Ignatchenko, referring to the head of the British intelligence service MI6 in Moscow, one of whose aides allegedly was filmed at the park. "The agreement seems to have been breached. In fact, we have been deceived."

The TV program, "Special Correspondent," said the fake rock was placed in the park last fall. An unidentified Russian, allegedly recruited by the British, used a hand-held computer to transfer data wirelessly to the equipment, as well as receive instructions, the program said. The British, including Doe, then allegedly retrieved the data using the same kind of hand-held devices.

Hidden camera footage supplied to the show by the FSB showed people said to be British diplomats walking to and from the rock, one of them fiddling in his pockets and casting his eyes about as he neared the site.

"At first we thought this was a normal, typical secret drop-off point camouflaged under a stone," an FSB officer told state-run Rossiya television. "However, later when our specialists carried out their investigation, it became clear that the stone contained an electronic device. This was absolutely new spy technology."

The Russians said the transmissions took one to two seconds at a distance of about 20 yards from the fake rock. The Russian said to be involved has been arrested and has reportedly admitted to espionage.

Correspondents Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan in London contributed to this report.