U.S. Writer ‘Engaging in Espionage,’ Soviets Say; Wife Allowed to Visit Him

The KGB secret police acknowledged on Sunday that it is holding American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff after he was caught while “engaging in an act of espionage”--by allegedly accepting a packet of “top secret” maps--and is being detained in Lefortovo prison in eastern Moscow.

The U.S. government and Daniloff’s employer, U.S. News & World Report, have denied the 52-year-old newsman’s involvement in espionage, denouncing his apprehension by KGB agents on Saturday as a crude provocation.

In Washington, the magazine announced Sunday that Mortimer B. Zuckerman, chairman and editor in chief, will fly to Moscow today to press for Daniloff’s release.

Daniloff was visited in a prison reception room by his wife, Ruth, and two U.S. Embassy consular officials for about an hour. Also present was a KGB investigator, identified only as Sergodeyev.

Daniloff’s wife said her husband appeared to be in good physical condition despite four hours of intense interrogation on Saturday. She said he was was being held in an 8-by-10-foot cell with a Soviet physicist under interrogation on similar charges.

“The conditions are very sparse,” she said. “He said he was fed four camp-style meals a day, but the food is pretty awful. He was a little depressed. He felt so isolated and had no idea what was going on. He was better when I left.”

“Totally Barbaric”

She told reporters outside the prison: “I consider the whole detention to be totally barbaric and unworthy of a great country like the Soviet Union.”

She said Soviet authorities seemed to be observing legal formalities, but she called the case “a setup.”

She said Daniloff reiterated his denial of any involvement in espionage. She said it was not clear how long he would be held. U.S. Consul Roger Daley said no charges are likely to be filed until the investigation is completed.

She said that U.S. Charge d’Affaires Richard E. Combs Jr. told her the Soviet investigation of her husband could last months.

“They haven’t charged him with espionage but there is a suspicion of it,” she said.

The KGB claimed earlier Sunday that it caught Daniloff “as he was engaging in an act of espionage” and said it was holding him for an investigation. The brief KGB announcement was issued through the news agency Tass.

“The material confiscated from him fully expose the U.S. correspondent of being involved in intelligence activities. An investigation is under way into Daniloff’s case,” the announcement said.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Jaroslav Verner said American diplomats were summoned to the Foreign Ministry and given an oral protest by the Soviets alleging that Daniloff broke the law.

He said the protest was rejected by a senior U.S. diplomat as “totally unfounded” and that the embassy demanded the Soviets release the correspondent.

Daniloff has worked for the weekly news magazine in Moscow since April, 1981, and was being reassigned to Washington. He was seized by eight KGB agents Saturday after he met a Soviet acquaintance, Misha, Daniloff’s wife said.

‘Top Secret’ Maps

Misha said the packet contained local newspapers, but when KGB agents later seized Daniloff it was found to contain the maps marked “top secret,” she said.

It was not known what happened to Misha. Ruth Daniloff said her husband saw agents handcuff him and throw him into a van. Daley said prison officials refused to say if Misha, a 27-year-old teacher from Frunze, capital of the Central Asian republic of Kirghiz, has also been detained.

Before Sunday’s meeting at the prison, Daniloff’s wife, who had spoken by telephone with her husband, said he believes his detention is in retaliation for the Aug. 23 arrest of a Soviet U.N. employee, Gennady F. Zakharov, on spy charges in New York.

Zakharov, who does not have diplomatic immunity, is being held without bond.