The Laughable Spy
Moscow yesterday accused my former Tashkent roommate, British diplomat Chris Bowers, of being a spy. I've exchanged emails with Chris, and he's taking it with his usual good humor.
The Russians claim that Chris, the U.K.'s trade envoy in Moscow, has been a spy for years, even when he was the BBC's correspondent for Central Asia in the early 1990s. Meaning even when he was my roommate on Ivleva Street in the Uzbekistan capital.
If Chris was a spy, he was a terrible one. Having spent much of two years with him, I can say he didn't collect much information, apart from a lot of chatter from Tajiks intent on killing each other in a civil war. Indeed Chris refused to do so. Once, he actually reversed an order I had given to our office manager, Aziza Nuritova, to start news files on all the major topics in the region. "I've got it all in my head. We don't need files," he said, pointing to his curly locks (now short and gray, by the way.).
Most of the time, in fact, Chris was wooing the girl next door. Whom he married by the way.
Chris is about to leave Moscow anyway on to his next diplomatic posting. The Russians know that and are simply targeting the easiest game.
The Russians claim that Chris, the U.K.'s trade envoy in Moscow, has been a spy for years, even when he was the BBC's correspondent for Central Asia in the early 1990s. Meaning even when he was my roommate on Ivleva Street in the Uzbekistan capital.
If Chris was a spy, he was a terrible one. Having spent much of two years with him, I can say he didn't collect much information, apart from a lot of chatter from Tajiks intent on killing each other in a civil war. Indeed Chris refused to do so. Once, he actually reversed an order I had given to our office manager, Aziza Nuritova, to start news files on all the major topics in the region. "I've got it all in my head. We don't need files," he said, pointing to his curly locks (now short and gray, by the way.).
Most of the time, in fact, Chris was wooing the girl next door. Whom he married by the way.
Chris is about to leave Moscow anyway on to his next diplomatic posting. The Russians know that and are simply targeting the easiest game.
Labels: bowers, britain, Russia, spy, uzbekistan
