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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Canada no security threat: Russia
TORONTO -- Canada is not a security threat to Russia, and recent revelations a Canadian naval officer acted as a spy for Moscow will not damage the relationship between the two countries, Russia's ambassador to Canada said Friday.
"With all due respect to Canada, it is not, believe me, the heart of our security concerns," said Georgiy Mamedov following a lunchtime speech at the Speakers Forum in Toronto.
Mamedov called the recent spy scandal "very marginal" in the scope of Russia's security priorities and blamed the incident on the lingering effects of the past.
"So let the routine of the Cold War die away. It will take some time," he said.
Mamedov, who has been stationed in Ottawa since 2003, said the real threat to both countries was terrorism, not Canada's military secrets.
On Wednesday, navy Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle pleaded guilty to espionage-related charges and breach of trust for selling classified information to Russia from 2007 to 2012.
Delisle, 41, is the first person to be charged under the Security of Information Act, which was passed following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
Delisle joined the navy in 1996, and at the time of his arrest earlier this year he had been employed as a threat-assessment analyst at Trinity, a highly secretive military facility in Halifax.
His position there gave him access to intelligence shared by the Five Eyes group -- which includes Canada, Great Britain, the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
The Crown alleges Delisle voluntarily approached the Russian Embassy in Ottawa and offered his services.
He was then asked by officials to search his work computer for any reference to Russia, copy the information onto a USB stick and then email it to a foreign handler, the Crown said.
The Russians allegedly paid him $5,000 for the first couple of transfers and then $3,000 every month.
Much of Mamedov's speech Friday, which was titled Canada-Russia Partnership, focused on continuing the two countries' economic co-operation and furthering their claims on the Arctic.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 13, 2012 A20
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