U.S. Spy Suspect Held by Moscow Is Identified

WASHINGTON —  The U.S. businessman arrested this week in Moscow on suspicion of espionage was identified Friday as a former naval intelligence officer who retired from the service six years ago as a captain.

The FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, has accused the American, Edmond D. Pope, of purchasing information on defense technology from Russian scientists. The agency said it also arrested a Russian expert on military technology who was accused of assisting Pope, who is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison.

At the time of Pope’s arrest Tuesday, neither Russia nor the U.S. government would name the suspect. But on Friday, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin identified him as “an American citizen, Edmond Pope, age 53.” Pope is now a private businessman with no U.S. government position, Rubin said.

The Pentagon said Pope retired in March 1994 after a 27-year career that included stints with the Naval Intelligence Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Rubin refused to comment on the validity of the Russian charges.

“It’s our practice here not to get into confirming or denying any of the intelligence issues that regularly are raised in the media,” he said.

Rubin said no formal charges have been filed against Pope. Russian authorities said Friday that they had no information about any charges against Pope, and an FSB spokesman declined to comment on the investigation.

In the decade since the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have repeatedly arrested citizens of the other country on espionage charges. Usually the charges are denied and the cases resolved without a clear public determination of whether the accusations were true.

Late last year, Russia expelled U.S. diplomat Cheri Leberknight after accusing her of trying to obtain secret military information from a Russian citizen. Soon after, the United States ordered a Russian diplomat, Stanislav B. Gusev, to leave the country after Washington said he was detected listening to conversations transmitted by a hidden microphone in a State Department conference room.

Both Leberknight and Gusev had diplomatic immunity, so expulsion was the most severe available punishment. Pope has no immunity, so he could face criminal charges in Russia.

“Mr. Pope has an attorney appointed by Russian authorities,” Rubin said. “We have been in touch with Mr. Pope’s family, and we will follow this case closely.”

At the time of Pope’s arrest, the FSB said the suspect was the head of a private firm operating in Russia.