The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed surprise at US media spreading rumors of the Russian secret services allegedly passing intelligence data on to the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. The US administration is reported not to have officially approached the Russian leadership and not have presented any corroborative documents.
"We are surprised at this subject being fed in to mass media instead of being discussed at the departmental level", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin.
As reported earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a TC interview that her department would address Russia in connection with a Pentagon report claiming that Russian secret services supplied Saddan Hussein with information on the dislocation of US troops and US military command plans.
The Pentagon is certain that the source of Russian intelligence was someone in the US Armed Forces Central Command in Qatar, and then the information was allegedly passed through Russian Ambassador in Baghdad Vladimir Titorenko on to the Iraqis.
Influential Senator (Democrat) Edward Kennedy has already said that relations between the US and Russia should be revised and President Bush should renounce his visit to St. Petersburg next July for a G-8 summit, should the information be confirmed.
For his turn, head of the press-bureau of the Russian External Intelligence Service, Boris Labusov, said: "Such groundless accusations against Russian intelligence have been made many times. We do not think it fit to comment on such fabrications".
"We are surprised at this subject being fed in to mass media instead of being discussed at the departmental level", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin.
As reported earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a TC interview that her department would address Russia in connection with a Pentagon report claiming that Russian secret services supplied Saddan Hussein with information on the dislocation of US troops and US military command plans.
The Pentagon is certain that the source of Russian intelligence was someone in the US Armed Forces Central Command in Qatar, and then the information was allegedly passed through Russian Ambassador in Baghdad Vladimir Titorenko on to the Iraqis.
Influential Senator (Democrat) Edward Kennedy has already said that relations between the US and Russia should be revised and President Bush should renounce his visit to St. Petersburg next July for a G-8 summit, should the information be confirmed.
For his turn, head of the press-bureau of the Russian External Intelligence Service, Boris Labusov, said: "Such groundless accusations against Russian intelligence have been made many times. We do not think it fit to comment on such fabrications".
