PHILBY MAY BE BEHIND BIG SPY RING IN N.A.T.O.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300200034-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 15, 2005
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: October 27, 1968
• Content Type: NSPR

London SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Approved For Release 200~~1 ~l?IE~A-70B00338R000300200034-6
d~ SPY R~1V~ I~ N.A.T.O.
from .ERIC D?WNTON
Sunday Telegraph Special Correspondent
SALONIKA, Saturday.
~~IM PHILBY, the Briton who spent a lifetime spying for Russia and
now lives in Moscow, may be one of the organisers of espionage
penetration within 1'~,A.T.O.
This is -the opinion of ofliccrs in Turkey and Greece
investigating a suspected Russian spy network- inside the
alliance's military organisation. Turkish officials this week.'
admitted that an investigation is being made throughout
- N.A.T.O._
A Turk, Nihat Imre, formerly
Ghicf I',inancial contro lc at
N.A.T.O. headquarters i~ ~rus-
sels, has been under intensive
interrogation in Ankara for a
month on suspicion of spyinb
'fox Russia.
Imre is alleged to have been
caught photographing documents
in his Brussels office on Sept. 12
according to reports in the Tur-
kish press. lie was handed over
to the Turkish authorities and
taken back to Ankara under
arrest nine days later.
1t has been officially stated in
Ankara -that Imre will be tried
before a Turkish military court.
As the trial will be in secret it
is possible that the hearing be-
gan this ,weekend.
disclosed. that six Communist.
spies recently. escaped; into, East
I3orr,rt, 5i~.rcr`cIes '
Counter-espionage experts in
Turkey and' West Germany are
investigating the possibility of
links between the Imre case and
a series of military and civil ser-
vice suicides in West Germany
which have aroused tears in Bonn
that. the Russians have succeeded
in creating, a widespread spy ring
inside the West German armed
forces and N.A.T.O. The West
German Government ,yesterday
1n Ankara there is much
speculation that events in Ger-
many may have been influcn.ced
by revelations made by Imre.
The Turkish government is keep-
ing its N.A.T.O. allies closely in-
formed on results of the Imre.
interrogation.
Both as a $ritish intelligence
agent and as a journalist, Philby
worked and lived in Turkey. He
visited Izmir, where N.A.T.O.'s
South Eastern Land Headquarters
are situated, a number of times.
Philby, now .openly working as
a Colonel of the K.G.B., the
Russian intelligence organisation,
in Moscow, has a detailed know-
ledge of the N.A.T.O. establish-
ment.
Before he fled to ,Moscow,
when it became known he was a
double agent-working for the
Russians while posing as a British
intelligence agent in the Middle
East-he had personal contact
with soldiers and diplomats of
various nationa]ities who have re-
cently served or are still serving
with N.A.T.O.
It is unlikely that full reper-
cussions of the Imre affair will
ever be made public. There are
reports that solders and civil
servants of other nationalities, in-
cludin3 an American officer, have
recently been quietly moved from
their jobs in N.A.T.O. and are
being. questioned concerning the
spy rtng Investigations.
Approved For Release 2005/12/14 :CIA-RDP70B00338R000300200034-6