BRITISH WITHHOLD SPY CASE DETAILS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96B01172R000300030002-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2007/12/14: CIA-RDP96BOl 172R000300030002-4
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THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESIYAY, JULY 21, 1982
RITISII WITHN06D
SPY CASE DETAILS
rs. Thatcher, Before Unruly
,ommons, Does Not Dispel
Fear of Major Scandal
By R. W. APPLE Jr.
Special toThe New York Timed
.ONDON, July 20 - Prime Minister
ugaret Thatcher refused today to
nish details of Britain's latest spy
indal to an apprehensive and unruly
use of Commons.
Vars. Thatcher did confirm that 44-
sr-old Geoffrey Arthur Prime, who
s arrested last week under the Offi-
I Secrets Act, had been an employee
nine years, ending in 1977, at the
vernment's secret electronic eaves.
)pping center near Cheltenham in
ithwestern England.
;he conceded that the charges
ainst Mr. Prime, who speaks Rus-
n, were "serious and must give rise
xancern." .
lut beyond that the Prime Minister
lined to go, asserting that under the
r she could say nothing until legal
xceedings against the suspect had
mn completed. The Speaker of the
use, George Thomas, sharply limited
estions despite the protests of back-
ichers from several parties.
drs. Thatcher's comments did noth-
to dispel reports that another major
r scandal - perhaps as embarrass-
as the Burgess-Maclean-Philby af-
r of two decades ago - might be
out to emerge.
Issue of a Spy Ring
he attempted indirectly to dampen
h speculation, which has filled the
wspapers for the last three days, by
ling a questioner that only one man
d been charged, that he had not
rked for the Government in any ca-
city for more than five years and that
.urity procedures at Cheltenham had
en thoroughly reviewed by an impar-
1 commission last year and found to
adequate in every respect.
3ut the Prime Minister, pressed to
nment on suggestions that a spy ring
s operating at Cheltenham, avoided
irm declaration that Mr. Prime was
rking alone. "Absolute certainty is
ver possible in these matters," she
id.
the effect of her statements, which
me in the midst of continuing concern
er security lapses at Buckingham
lace and on the day of two devastat-
bomb attacks by the Irish Republi-
n Army in the center of London, was
keep the Prime Minister an# her
rvernment on the defensive.
Mrs. Thatcher, politicians and ana-
ts agreerd, was able to do nothing to
pen the growing feeling that how-
ergreat her triumphs in the Falkland
Aasodated Press
He is said to have been a linguist
for the British Government.
L ))-y ?,Z
Gaunt Polyglot Cabdriver
Geoffrey Arthur Prime
LONDON, July 20-On the surface,
Geoffrey Arthur Prime, the 44-year:
old Briton charged with espionage, is
a stark contrast to the other spies in
this country since World War II.
Rather than attending Cambridge
Man
in the
News
University, as did Sir An.
thony Blunt, H. A. R.
Philby, Donald Maclean
and Guy Burgess, Brit-
ain's best-known spies,
Mr. Prime went to a.
small technical college in England's
china-producing district, the Pot-
teries, in Staffordshire.
Instead of serving in prominent pub.
lic positions, like Sir Anthony, who
was curator of the art collection of
Queen Elizabeth II, or Kim Philby,
who was once spoken of as a possible
head of Britain's secret intelligence
service, Mr. Prime has most recently
Islands, things at home had been al-
lowed to get badly out of control. That
impression was heightened by the an-
nouncement of record unemployment
figures.
The Cheltenham center, formally
known as the General Communications
Headquarters, works closely with the
United States National Security Agen.
cy, based at Fort George Meade, Md. It
is presumed here that some of the ma-
terial allegedly passed along by Mr.
Prime, probably to the Soviet Union,
was American in origin. aria
asompapen amos were passed to a~Soviets to
wbolias leftthe qua try.vGovernment
sources were quoted as saying that no
network and no "moles" remained in
place at Cheltenham.
According to reliable informants, the
Cheltenham operation employs more
than 7,000 officers stationed around the
world In such places as Scotland, Cy-
prus, Hong Kong and Ascension Island
in the South Atlantic. They listen 24
haws a day to the radio, television and
satellite communications of foreign
powers and relay these to Cheltenham,
where linguists and cryptologists study
the intercepts for scraps of intelligence
data.
The United States provides most of
the money and technological expertise
for the operation and the British pro.
vide most of the skilled analysts.
Mr. Prime, now a cabdriver, ap.
peared at Hereford magistrate's court
on a charge of violating Section 1 of the
Official Secrets Act, which relates to
the most serious spying. He was said to
have , communicated information of
potential use to an unnamed enemy be.
tween January 1968 and December 1981.
Alex Lawrie, a Labor member of the
Gloucestershire County Council, has
added fuel to the controversy. An expert
in African languages who formerly
worked at Cheltenham, he said that se-
cu#ty there was "lax and fossilized" -
so poor that espionage was "child's
vlav."
been unemployed. Before that, he was
a wine salesman and a taxi driver.
A gaunt-faced man described as a
hard worker and good friend by a for.
mer colleague, Mr. Prime was
charged at Hereford magistrate's
court last Thursday with unspecified
acts of espionage In the period from
Jan. 1,1968 to Dec. 31,1981.
During the first nine years of that
interval, he was employed at the.Gen-
eral Communications Headquarters
at Cheltenham. This Is the nerve cen-
ter of Britain's intelligence network,
and it works closely with the United
States National Security Agency.
He Worked Crossword Puzzles .
Mr. Prime has been charged under
Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act
with communicating information cal-
culated or Intended to be useful to an
enemy for purposes prejudicial to the
safety and. interests of the state. That
section was used in all Britain's major
spycases.
"There's no doubt he is highly intel.
ligent, ' said Glynn Priday, chairman
of the Cheltenham-based taxi compa-
ny, A2B Private Hire Ltd., where Mr.
Prime worked for 18 months before
leaving amicably last October. "Any-
one who can do the Times or the Daily
Telegraph crossword puzzles in 40
minutes must be."
The suspect, who is reported to have
been a high-grade linguist for the Gov-
ernment's communications headquar
ters, was -fluent in Russian aadoaim
know German, according to Mr.
Priday.
"He was very interested in Russian-
culture and was always reading Rus-
sian newspapers and books and going
to Russian plays and films-; ' Mr.
Priday said.
According to his former employer.
Royal Air Force at the Leauchrast A police spokesman In Munich quote
College of Languages. Today, a Joii1cials on the West German side of tt
spokesman for the air force said he border as saying Bishop Sikorekithe
could not Identify any such institution. decided to return to Poland by air.
Mr. Priday was not surprised tha
his former employee had worked to
British intelligence. "Taxi driver
come in all kinds," he said. "Geoff 1e
us to believe that the strain and styes
of working for the Government forth
sort of money he was making ther
was just too much. He told us he an
his wife wanted an easier life so he lei
the Government."
Mr. Prime went to work locally a
the taxi company, Cheltax, wher
today no one would comment on hid
gas_ i4fdlion hi
lnwiaeiu
enar by changes in company policy
he-gat a jobuelling wine to ant
and hotels arokad Bristol, near Wale
for the German wine company, Pier
al% LA&I
Mr. Prime was born in the village c
Alton, near Stoke-on-Trent, not Ion
before World War II. The youngest c
three sons of a nurseryman, he went t
a local Roman Catholic village schoc
before going on at the age of 14 t
study In Staffordshire. While in hi
20's he is reported to have joined th
Royal Air Force.
Divorced once, Mr. Prime the
married a woman with three youn
sons. His wife, Rhona, the boys, an
his parents are said to have been I
biding for some days.
Mr. Priday described Mr. Prime'
interests as soccer and reading: H
said that since he was arrested o
June 28 on three charges of indecer
assault, Mr. Prime had lost consider
able weight.
Mr. Prime Is being held at th
Gloucester Road prison in Herefor
until his next court appearance, se
forNerhich will probably b
at London's Central Criminal Cour
the Old Bailey. :
bras at b ofal nd didn
have much of a sense of humor, but h
certainly got on well with his co
leagues here," Mr. Priddy said.
Czechs Bar a Polish Bishop
After Visit to West German
MUNICH, West Germany, July
(Reuters) - A Polish bishop travelin
home from West Germany was refuse
entry into Czechoslovakia by borde
guards today, the border police said.
The border police said the Czechosli
vak guards tore a page from the pas
port of Bishop Bogdan Sikorski of Po
nan ? and refused him transit. A prie
serving as the Bishop's driver was a
Approved For Release 2007/12/14: CIA-RDP96BOl 172R000300030002-4