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MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's foreign spy agency denied Saturday that Moscow gave Saddam Hussein information on U.S. troop movements and plans during the invasion of Iraq, while analysts speculated the Pentagon claim was tied to a growing rift between the West and the Kremlin. A Pentagon report Friday cited two captured Iraqi documents as saying Russia obtained information from sources "inside the American Central Command" in Qatar and passed battlefield intelligence to Saddam through the former Russian ambassador in Baghdad, Vladimir Titorenko. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service dismissed the claims. "Similar, baseless accusations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more...

The captured archives are starting to show that post-Soviet Russia hadn't stopped its old Soviet ways in Iraq. Among the initial revelations: Russia's SVR foreign-intelligence service recently spied on British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, eavesdropping on their conversations and passing the information to Saddam Hussein's regime. As recently as last fall, Russia was continuing to train the Iraqi secret police. Rooting through an office of the Mukhabarat secret police, Robert Collier of the San Francisco Chronicle discovered documents showing that the SVR trained five Iraqi officers in "phototechnical and optical means" and "acoustic-surveillance means"...

HOURS before American troops first entered Baghdad, Saddam Hussein’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, went to his information ministry for a secret meeting with the Russian ambassador. The appointment with Vladimir Titorenko was set for 1pm on April 9. Two hours later there was no sign of the Russian envoy and Aziz left the ministry. The fluent English speaker would not be seen again until he handed himself over to US forces in Baghdad last Thursday. “He was expecting a very important answer from the Russian government through their ambassador in Baghdad,” said one official. It may, he believed, have...

A host of Britons feature in the files of the Iraqi foreign ministry, which faithfully record dealings with Saddam Hussein's regime that many might prefer to forget. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing, but many of those who contacted the Iraqi regime wrote in somewhat naive terms. A letter from Sir Edward Heath dated March 6 2000 cheerfully records a luncheon with Mudhafar Amin, head of the Iraqi Interests Section in London, at his home in Salisbury. "I was delighted that you and your wife were able to come," wrote Sir Edward. "Thank you for leaving me with such an...

A report in the Daily Mail claims 'other sources have independently told this newspaper that Moscow has already smuggled the dictator out of Baghdad in a convoy led by the Russian Ambassador and bombed, unsuccessfully by the Americans.'The article says that according to inelligence reports, Saddam and his son were travelling in a convoy to Syria along Highway 11 in Iraq.The Central Intelligence Agency ordered United States Delta Force to the scene.'The field agents got there first and ordered the convoy to stop. When this order was refused the Americans opened fire. Then the soldiers arrived,' the report says.It then...

Rpts: Russia Doubts Convoy Hit on Purpose .c The Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) - The Kremlin does not believe U.S. troops intentionally fired on a Russian diplomatic convoy as it evacuated Baghdad, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported Thursday, citing unidentified high-level Kremlin sources. ``What is most likely is that this was just irresponsible and outrageous behavior by particular servicemen,'' Interfax quoted its source as saying. Kremlin spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment, but the Russian government often uses such anonymous statements to Russian news agencies to express an official position. Russia's ambassador to Iraq, Vladimir Titorenko,...

Al Bawaba has learnt from various sources that Russia might have helped top Iraqi officials get out of Iraq as part of a Russian diplomatic convoy that left Baghdad Sunday. Russian ambassador Vladimir Titorenko had left Baghdad and arrived in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, claiming that US forces had fired on his diplomatic convoy as it left the Iraqi capital. Surprisingly, the Russian diplomat returned to the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, officially to bring out an embassy driver wounded in the incident and a diplomat who stayed to look after the hospitalized victim. However, well-informed sources have told Al Bawaba...

The US completely rejects the statement of the Russian ambassador to Baghdad Vladimir Titorenko, that American servicemen in Iraq intentionally fired on the Russian convoy. This was stated by American ambassador to Moscow, Aleksandr Vershbou. "There are many versions of what occurred. We are trying to ascertain the facts concerning this situation. But I can say that we completely reject the statement of ambassador Titorenko, that our forces intentionally fired the column of Russian diplomats," Vershbou said in an interview with a Moscow radio station, according to Interfaks. Let us recall that on Monday, when Russian diplomats reached Syria, Vladimir...

Russian Accuses U.S. of Firing on Convoy Monday April 7, 2003 5:20 PM MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's ambassador to Iraq on Monday accused American troops of firing on his convoy outside Baghdad, but a U.S. diplomat said it was still unclear who was responsible for the incident, which Russian officials said wounded at least four people. Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko said U.S. forces fired on the convoy - which was carrying Russian diplomats and journalists toward Syria on Sunday - despite clear markings and efforts to let them know it was not carrying fighters. ``The economic counselor tried to signal to...

MOSCOW (AFP) - Several Russians were injured Sunday when the convoy evacuating the Russian ambassador to Iraq out of Baghdad came under fire, a foreign ministry spokesman said. A Jordan-based diplomat, quoting Russian sources, told AFP in Amman that ambassador Vladimir Titorenko was injured in the attack. "The car convoy with members of the Russian embassy in Iraq, including the ambassador, came under attack leaving Baghdad in the direction of the Syrian border," the Russian ministry spokesman told AFP. He said officials did not yet know whether the convoy came under attack from Iraqi or US-led coalition forces. The...

Russian convoy attacked, some wounded, in Iraq MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - A Russian diplomatic convoy which left Baghdad on Sunday was attacked and several people were wounded, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Russian Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko was in the convoy, which was heading for Syria, Interfax news agency said. It was unclear who attacked the convoy. Russia has been an outspoken opponent of the U.S.-led war against Iraq, and last week summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest against an air raid on a Baghdad suburb which houses the Russian embassy. 04/06/03 06:31 ET

Russian diplomats, ambassador leave Iraq, go to Damascus MOSCOW. April 6 (Interfax) - Russian Ambassador to Iraq Vladimir Titorenko and a group of Russian diplomats left Baghdad and headed to Damascus on cars Sunday morning, a Russian Foreign Ministry source has told Interfax. "From Damascus the Russian diplomats will fly to Moscow. They are expected to arrive later on Sunday," the source said. Twelve diplomats and technical personnel will continue their work at the Russian embassy in Baghdad, he said.