"POLITICS PREVAILS OVER COMMON SENSE" IN ESPIONAGE CHARGES AGAINST ROBERT HANSSEN: FORMER FSB CHIEF








MOSCOW, March 2. /RIA Novosti/. Nowadays, secret services of Russia and the USA are more of partners rather than opponents, Nikolai Kovalev, once director of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and currently a State Duma deputy, opined at a news conference Friday.


	According to him, "random" spy scandals erupting both in the USA and Russia do not prevent the countries from joining hands in combating terrorism, corruption and drug dealing.


	The former FSB chief believes that "politics prevailed over common sense" as to the arrest of Robert Hanssen accused of espionage for Russia.


	He does not find the testimony to the accusation that Hanssen is a Russian secret agent convincing enough.