Soviets Expel U.S. Diplomat, Charge Spying

An American diplomat was expelled from the Soviet Union on spying charges, the official Tass news agency reported Wednesday.

It said Erik Sites was declared persona non grata for “unlawful espionage actions” after he was discovered with a Soviet citizen identified as a recruit of an American intelligence service.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said that Sites, a civilian employee of the Defense Department, already has left the Soviet Union. The spokesman refused to make any further comment.

In Washington, White House spokesman Larry Speakes confirmed that Sites has been expelled but also refused to discuss spy charge.

“We do not comment on such allegations,” Speakes said. Asked if the United States will retaliate by expelling a Soviet official, he said, “I don’t have anything on that.”

The Tass account said Sites was arrested on May 7, and carried materials “which fully disclose his intelligence activities incompatible with his official status” as a diplomat.

His arrest halted “a big espionage action of U.S. secret services against the Soviet Union,” Tass said. It gave no further details.

It was the second expulsion of an American diplomat in less than three months. Michael Sellers, who was a political officer at the embassy, was ousted in March on similar spying charges.

Last June, Paul Stombaugh, a second secretary at the embassy, also was kicked out of the country after he was accused of spying.