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LONDON-In what could be one of the most dramatic East-West standoffs since 105 Soviet spies were expelled from Great Britain in 1971, officials in London are considering the banishment of 34 Russian spies.Reports say Great Britain's intelligence service has provided Home Secretary Jacqui Smith with the names of the Russian spies operating in the country as diplomatic tensions escalate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Smith, the tough-talking first woman to hold the post, has signed expulsion orders which can be "instantly served" should the crisis deepen further, and final decision will be made by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "It might well lead to what would be little less than a full rupture between London and Moscow," said one veteran diplomat. "The only hope is that Putin will back off. But right now there seems little chance of that."Two of the alleged Russian spies are senior staff at the imposing Russian embassy in London's most expensive street, Kensington Palace Gardens. Inside the building are members of Russia's foreign intelligence service, SVR, and its military intelligence agency, the GRU.Among the senior spies on the expulsion list are the embassy's political section chief, Alexander Sternik, and senior counselor, Andrey Pritsepov, the personal aide to the ambassador.The list is seen as part of "a significant response" to the recent interrogation of British diplomats and staff at the British Council offices in Russia. One British Council employee, Stephen Kinnock, the son of the former Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock, described his arrest as "something out of the Cold War."As in the days of Noah....
