Talks on between US 038; Russia,spy swap likely

Igor Sutyagin was arrested in 1999 and accused of passing secrets about nuclear submarines and missile warning systems to a British company that prosecutors said was a front for the CIA. Sutyagin,who was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to 15 years in prison,had maintained his innocence.

In an interview,Sutyagins mother,Svetlana E Sutyagina,said he had been transferred from a prison colony in northern Russia to Moscow,and that she had met with him on Wednesday morning.

Once in Lefortovo prison in Moscow,she said,her son met with US officials in the presence of Russian security service officers. Sutyagina said that he did not know the Americans names or positions and that they had remained silent while the Russians offered the trade.

The conversation was with our generals, she said. The Americans werent deciding anything.

A message left at the press office of the US embassy in Moscow seeking comment was not returned.

He said they made him sign a confession of guilt and that there was not much time,as they should accuse those detained in America tomorrow, Sutyagina said. Her son,whom she described as bearded and thin from his time in prison,is to be pardoned and sent to Vienna,she said,adding that from there he is to be handed over to Britain.

He doesnt know how this trade will take place, she said. All he knows is he is being sent to Vienna,and there he will meet the English. Its formulated as a pardon. Thats all.

Sutyagins lawyer,Anna Stavitskaya,said he would be swapped for one of the Russians accused in the US of failing to register as an agent for a foreign government,the Interfax news agency reported.