Sweden sends diplomats back to Moscow in espionage row

Sweden announced yesterday that it had expelled two Russian diplomats in connection with an espionage case involving the telephony giant Ericsson – a move that surprised Moscow and drew a threat of retaliation.

The two people expelled were employees at the Russian embassy in Stockholm and had diplomatic status, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

"We have asked the Russian ambassador to come to the ministry and two of the embassy's employees have been declared persona non grata and they have left the country," she said. "It has a connection to the Ericsson case."

National security police detained three Swedes, identified only as employees or former employees of Ericsson, last week after the main suspect was allegedly caught in the act of handing over secret company material to a foreign intelligence agent. The other two were accused of helping to gather material, police said.

All three suspects were ordered to be detained to face a possible charge of industrial espionage. One also faces a more serious charge of espionage, which would mean a threat to national security.

The Russian Foreign Ministry criticised the decision to expel its diplomats. "The Swedish authorities' decision to declare two Russian embassy employees persona non grata causes bewilderment and regret," the ministry said in a statement issued in Moscow. "The Russian side reserves the right to react to the given action in an adequate way."

Ericsson, with more than 70,000 employees in more than 140 countries, also suspended two other employees last week, saying they were accused of providing information to the espionage suspects but did not face criminal charges. The Stockholm-based company said the five people, who worked in development units, did not hold high positions and it did not believe the information leaked would cause any major damage to the company.

Ericsson, the world's leading maker of equipment for cellphone networks, also develops and makes radar systems for defence programmes worldwide. The case has been classified and no information on the technology involved has been released, leaving only speculation over whether the case is related to the competitive field of wireless technology or interests in radar.

"What seems to be the case is that [the suspects] have taken some development projects and sold the information to a third party," said Urban Ekelund, an analyst. "I don't think it's a very big concern for the financial markets." (AP)