Turkmenistan says foreign spy ring fomenting unrest

ASHGABAT, June 20 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan today said it had uncovered a network aimed at fomenting discontent with the government and that it involved a number of foreignrs, including a French diplomat.

National Security Minister Geldy Ashirmukhamedov, speaking on television, accused the French diplomat and an official from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) of involvement in illegal activities.

He said a number of Turkmen citizens, including a rights campaigner, formed the nerve centre of the network which sought to foment unrest in the authoritarian Central Asian state.

The French embassy and the OSCE office in Ashgabat declined to comment. It was unclear whether anyone had been detained.

Turkmen President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, who tolerates no dissent and enjoys a flourishing personality cult, asked Ashirmukhamedov on television: ''So did you catch everyone?'' ''Yes, everyone,'' replied the minister.

''The Foreign Ministry must summon all the diplomats who were involved in this case. Ask them to their faces to apologise. If they don't, they must be deported,'' said Niyazov, who calls himself Turkmenbashi (leader of the Turkmen) the Great.

It was not clear exactly how many diplomats were said to be involved in the network or exactly what they are accused of.

Turkmen state news agency Turkmen Khabarlary said security forces had arrested a local human rights activist, Annakurban Amanklychev, in connection with the case, saying he used glasses with a built-in camera to film secret sites.

The agency said the French diplomat had contact with the activist and had supplied him with equipment.

State newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan said the activist was accused of ''criminal activities linked to ... the collection of false information with the aim of fomenting discontent among the population''. It also said he had helped a British citizen gather secret information in Turkmenistan.

British ambassador Peter Roderick Butcher, contacted by telephone, said none of his staff had been arrested.

''There is no suggestion at all of any British government involvement in the case,'' he said. ''I am not aware of any arrests at all.'' Reuters KD DB1811