An agent at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was arrested Monday and charged with providing classified information to Russian intelligence agents, CNN reported, citing FBI officials as saying.
Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested on Sunday night, an official said, and will be arraigned in US District Court in Alexandria later Tuesday. FBI spokesman Bill Carter said Hanssen was arrested in his home in Vienna, Virginia.
Director Louis Freeh, Attorney General John Ashcroft and CIA Director George Tenet are expected to attend a press conference to explain the circumstance of the arrest and charges against the suspect, said CNN.
Hanssen, in his mid-50s and a father of six, is accused of working for Russian intelligence for over 15 years.
He worked counter-terrorism operations intended to catch spies, for the last 25 years, most of that time in New York and Washington, said CNN.
The FBI said it had been watching Hanssen for four months after obtaining documents from the Russian KGB indicating he was spying.
He was picked up after putting classified information into a dead drop, where it allegedly was to be picked up by his Russian contacts, in Virginia.
A Russian embassy spokesman in Washington had no comment on the reports of Hanssen's arrest when contacted by CNN -- Albawaba.com
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