Norway Ousts 4 Soviets for Espionage Acts

The government has ordered a Soviet diplomat and three trade delegates to leave the country, accusing them of gathering high-technology intelligence for the KGB, the foreign minister said today.

Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg said the expulsion orders were issued July 15 but kept secret for two weeks in the hope of preventing a retaliation by Moscow.

But two Norwegians--a diplomat and a former staff member of Norway’s Moscow embassy--were declared persona non grata in the Soviet Union three days ago, Stoltenberg told a news conference. Both men were in Norway at the time.

Blast at Soviets

“The Norwegian government regrets the Soviet behavior in this affair. We cannot accept that illegal intelligence activities are carried out in Norway,” Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg identified the ousted diplomat as Valentin V. Korpusov, a second secretary, and the trade delegates as Valery I. Reshetnikov, Alexandr I. Sergienko and Vladimir M. Vetrov.

Stoltenberg said at least one of the Soviets had been involved in illegal operations for as long as three years.

He said three of the four Soviets had already left Norway but did not say which ones. He gave no deadline for the fourth to leave but said it should be “as soon as possible.”