Russian state television has broadcast video footage of what it claims are British diplomats spying in Moscow.
In the programme, people claiming to be Russian intelligence officers say British agents planted a transmitter in an imitation rock on a Moscow street. The officers say British embassy officials then walked past downloading data from the "rock's" transmitter. The UK Foreign Office said it was "concerned and surprised" at the claims and denied any improper conduct.
Carried away
The programme said four officials from the British embassy and one Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by the British secret service, downloading classified data from the rock's transmitter onto palm-top computers. According to the programme, the Russian citizen was later arrested.
Hidden camera footage appears to show individuals walking up to the rock. One man is caught on camera carrying it away. When contacted by the BBC, Russia's internal security service, the FSB, refused to comment but the programme contained a number of interviews with officials claiming to be from the FSB confirming the story.
The programme also alleged that one of the embassy officials involved had been authorising regular payments to Russian non-governmental organisations. The UK Foreign Office statement said: "We are concerned and surprised at these allegations. We reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs." It said it was well known that the British government had given financial support to projects implemented by Russian NGOs in the field of human rights and civil society. "All our assistance is given openly and aims to support the development of a healthy civil society in Russia," the statement said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4638136.stm