MOSCOW, Dec 18: Russia caught 149 spies working for foreign governments in 2008, including a network of Georgian agents, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday.

“In the area of countering foreign intelligence, the activities of 48 career officers were blocked, as well as 101 agents of foreign special services,” FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov was quoted as saying by news agencies. The 101 non-career agents included 76 foreigners and 25 Russian citizens, said Bortnikov, whose agency is the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, at a meeting with journalists.

Captured spies included “a network of agents from the special services of Georgia”, the ex-Soviet republic with which Russia fought a five day war in August, Bortnikov was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS and Interfax news agencies.

He said the ring included a senior official in Georgia’s spy service, identifying him only by his last name Kherkelidze, and five Russians who had been charged with treason for passing secrets to Tbilisi. The FSB also caught a native of Syria with Russian citizenship named Amin Boutros who had financed militant groups in Russia’s tubulent North Caucaus region, Bortnikov said, according to RIA Novosti news agency.—AFP