<Toronto Star Article

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In Moscow, the Kremlin said a convoy of Russian Embassy diplomats came under fire today, and some were wounded, as they were evacuating from Baghdad and starting to drive toward Syria.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. and Iraqi ambassadors were summoned and asked to take all measures necessary to guarantee Russian citizens' safety in Iraq and to investigate the circumstances of the attack.

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SECRET SERVICES

RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE WORKING OVERTIME IN BAGHDAD... Agents of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and Russian military intelligence (GRU) are meeting daily with high-ranking members of President Hussein's intelligence agencies to discuss the developing situation in Iraq, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 27 March. It reported that two Zaslon (shield) special-purpose SVR detachments have been sent to Iraq and noted that the security of Russian diplomatic missions is the responsibility of the Federal Border Guard Service, which was recently merged into the Federal Security Service (FSB).

...AS HUNT FOR HUSSEIN'S ARCHIVES STARTS. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" speculates that the Russian intelligence stations in Baghdad have been ordered to evacuate the archives of the Iraqi secret services to Russia prior to the fall of Hussein's regime. The topic might have been discussed last month when Hussein met with former Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov, who is also a former SVR head (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 February 2003), the paper commented. If Moscow is able to acquire Hussein's secret-service archives, it will gain access to the Iraqi intelligence network and thereby get control of a crucial lever of influence in postwar Iraq. Moreover, these archives may contain information about possible weapons of mass destruction. However, the newspaper notes that experts believe Hussein would have ordered such documents destroyed when it became clear that the U.S.-led coalition would attack. According to the paper, the CIA and Britain's MI-6, which are already active in Iraq, are also bent on acquiring these records. However, while Western agents are working secretly and in a hostile environment, Russian intelligence agents have the advantage of working more or less openly from the Russian Embassy, the daily noted. It is possible that the archives could end up at the embassy, which is protected by extraterritoriality, the newspaper concluded.