US diplomat ordered to leave country

MOSCOW (AP):

A UNITED States (US) diplomat was ordered yesterday to leave the country after the Kremlin's security services said he tried to recruit a Russian agent. They displayed tradecraft tools that seemed straight from a cheap spy thriller: wigs, packets of cash, a knife, map and compass, and a letter promising millions for "long-term cooperation".

The FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, identified the diplomat as Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the US Embassy in Moscow, detaining him briefly overnight.

It alleged Fogle was a CIA officer trying to recruit a Russian counter-terrorism officer who specialises in the volatile Caucasus region in southern Russia, where the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects had their ethnic roots.

Fogle was handed over to US Embassy officials, declared persona non grata, and ordered to leave Russia immediately. He has diplomatic immunity, which protects him from arrest.

The State Department would only confirm that Fogle worked as an embassy employee, but wouldn't give any details about his employment record or responsibilities in Russia. Some officials also referred inquiries to the CIA, which declined comment.