Russia pardons Pope

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, DEC. 14. The Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, has pardoned a former U.S. intelligence officer who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Russia on espionage charges, in a carefully timed gesture of goodwill towards the new U.S. President.

Mr. Edmond Pope, convicted on charges of illegally obtaining blueprints of a high-speed Russian torpedo, was set free on Thursday, hours after Mr. George Bush emerged winner in the marathon presidential race in the U.S. Mr. Pope's pardon was rushed through with breath-taking speed: merely a week had passed between Mr. Pope's conviction and his release from prison, whereas normally it takes months and years in Russia to consider clemency appeals.

The conviction and pardon of the U.S. Navy intelligence officer- turned-businessman - the first American to stand espionage trial in Russia in 40 years - is widely seen as Mr. Putin's message to the new U.S. administration: Russia is prepared to take U.S. concerns into consideration provided Russian concerns are heeded. Moscow ignored U.S. protests against the trial and sentenced Mr. Pope to a maximum prison term of 20 years, but pardoned him immediately after conviction.

In his pardon decree, Mr. Putin cited Mr. Pope's health condition, as well as ``the high level of relations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America.''

In a further display of Russia's newly found resolve to uphold its national interests, the convicted American was set free just as Mr. Putin was beginning a historic visit to Cuba to rebuild economic and military ties between the two countries - a visit that ruffled feathers in Washington.

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Section  : International
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