US, Russia planning ‘prisoner swap’

The US lawyer defending one of 10 suspected Russian spies had said the case might be resolved when they faced formal charges later tomorrow. A Russian scientist convicted of espionage was said to be involved in a possible swap.  Early reports that he had been flown to Vienna were dismissed by his family as "speculation".

Igor Sutyagin's father Vyacheslav has denied earlier Russian news agency reports that he had received news of his son's arrival in Austria. "This is all speculation, don't take it seriously," he was quoted as saying.

Austria's foreign ministry said it could neither confirm nor deny Sutyagin's arrival on its soil. Neither Russian nor US authorities had commented so far on reports of a swap.

Five suspects detained in Massachusetts and Virginia were being brought to New York to face charges along with five already held in the city. News of Sutyagin's release was broken by his lawyer in Moscow, Anna Stavitskaya, who quoted the prisoner's father. She said the father had been informed by a journalist by phone that his son had arrived at a Vienna airport and been met "by an officer".

Stavitskaya said she had not been able to confirm the news with the Russian authorities. After being moved from a prison in the far north of Russia to a Moscow jail this week, he was allowed to meet his family, who said he had told them his release via Vienna was planned for tomorrow. His brother Dmitry said Igor had been told by Russian officials that his release would be part of a spy swap.