Russian FSB chief accuses NGOs of shielding spies

MOSCOW, Dec 19 (Reuters) Russia's state security chief stepped up Moscow's pressure on international non-governmental organisations and charities today, saying they were increasingly being used as cover for foreign spying operations.

President Vladimir Putin has already accused foreign powers of using NGOs for political ends, and this year signed a law on NGOs that activists say could be used to harass charities.

Nikolai Patrushev, head of the FSB state security service, said 27 foreign spies and 89 agents working for foreign secret services had been caught in 2006.

Itar-Tass news agency reported him as saying there had been a sharp rise in foreign espionage from ''legal positions'' in society.

He said the spies were sheltering behind ''many international funds and organisations that deal with questions of widening cooperation and humanitarian help, as well as media organisations''.

His Cold War-style rhetoric reflected the new mood in Moscow.

Foreign spy scares are back in vogue following the poisoning of a former Russian agent in London and a spy scandal in January, when Russia accused British diplomats of using a fake rock placed by the roadside to transmit secret messages.

Patrushev made his comments to domestic media on the eve of Chekist Day, the day Russian spies celebrate the founding of the ruthless Soviet secret police, the Cheka, forerunner of the KGB.

DANES SINGLED OUT Patrushev singled out the Danish Refugee Council, a private humanitarian organisation that works with people displaced by fighting or economic ruin in Russia's restive province of Chechnya, in the Caucasus.

''Employees of this non-government organisation, contrary to official announcements of their aims, are systematically trying to collect biased information about the political, economic and military situation in the North Caucasus,'' Patrushev said.

Arne Vaagen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department, rejected the accusation.

''I am very surprised because we have never been subject to such allegations before and I hope that he has been quoted correctly,'' he said by telephone from Denmark.

''We are in the area due to humanitarian needs and we have been there for 6 years with the support of the Russian authorities.'' Russia's intelligence establishment are enjoying a rise in status under Putin, himself a former agent, who has promoted former colleagues from the security services to some of the most senior positions in the Kremlin.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, president Boris Yeltsin allowed the KGB to be carved up. Thousands of agents -- including Putin -- left to make a living in other professions to escape under-funding and a massive loss of prestige.

Russia in January accused Britain of using spies working as diplomats at the British embassy in Moscow to fund NGOs illegally.

In August, a double agent who had sold Britain details about Russia's spy network received a 13-year sentence.

Reuters SY GC2330