CIA Defector Leaves Sweden; U.S. Vows to Keep Up Hunt

Edward Lee Howard, the only CIA officer to defect to the Soviet Union, was on the move again Tuesday after being offered an ultimatum: Leave Sweden or remain in police custody.

Officials refused to say where Howard had gone.

But his lawyer said Howard was happy with the deal, an indication that Howard was headed to a country that would not extradite him to the United States for trial on charges of selling U.S. secrets to the former Soviet KGB.

Howard, 40, said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he wanted to return to Russia if he couldn’t stay in Sweden.

A Russian foreign intelligence service spokesman, Yuri Kobaladze, was quoted by Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency as saying that Howard was welcome to return to Moscow and would be offered a job and housing.

In Washington, the Justice Department said Howard apparently fled “to what he believes is safe haven.”

But the statement said the department is determined “to bring Howard to trial no matter how long it may take, for he will be unable to find lasting refuge in even the most remote corners of the Earth.”

The Swedish Security Police detained Howard as a security risk last week after his temporary residence permit expired but dropped their charge that he prepared to spy on Sweden for the Russian intelligence service.

Howard worked for the CIA from January, 1981, until June, 1983, when he was fired, according to the FBI.