UK police question Nato-assigned US soldier

LONDON:

UK police were questioning on Wednesday a senior American soldier assigned to Nato and suspected of spying for Russia, after his arrest amid a joint investigation with the US military and law enforcement.

UK Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) have said the 41-year-old American soldier was detained near Gloucester, southwest England, on suspicion of violating national security laws and taken to a London police station.

Later on Tuesday, a senior Nato military official confirmed the soldier was assigned to its Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), the alliance's 20-nation, high-readiness force led by the British Army.

Based at Imjin Barracks near Gloucester, it can deploy at short notice anywhere in Europe or globally under the direct operational command of Nato's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Imjin is also just a few miles from the UK's sensitive GCHQ intelligence, security and cyber agency headquarters.

Probe 'ongoing'

Vicki Evans, CTP's senior national coordinator, said the "significant" arrest and investigation followed close collaboration between UK and US authorities.

"The allegations are serious and our investigation is very much ongoing," she said in a statement late Tuesday. US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel thanked British authorities - including the country's domestic spy agency, MI5 - and their American counterparts "for their outstanding work".

"This important arrest involves allegations of espionage, which is of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies," he said in a statement.

Police arrested the US soldier under two sections of the UK's national security laws, one relating to obtaining or disclosing protected information and the other to assisting a foreign intelligence service. AFP