Moscow has accused MI6 of orchestrating a spy scandal in Latvia after three Russian diplomats were sent home for allegedly trying to buy Nato secrets.

Russia claims the affair is really part of its ongoing dispute with Britain because the boss of Latvia's spy agency is a retired British Army general.

But Latvia insists the diplomats are Russian spies caught red-handed trying to bribe state officials to hand over secrets.

The country's spy chief Janis Kazocins, 56, is the son of Latvian refugees and was born in Peterborough.

He graduated from Sandhurst officer training school and had a distinguished Army career, serving in Northern Ireland and helping to plan the first Gulf War. He was also Military Attache at the British Embassy in the Latvian capital Riga.

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Twice-married Kazocins, who has two grown-up children living in the Midlands, was later seconded to the Latvian army after the fall of the Soviet Union as the former Soviet republic prepared to join Nato.

In October 2000, Prince Charles met him while he was commanding a British detachment training troops in the Czech Republic. After leaving the Army in 2003, he took up the job as head of Latvia's SAB spy agency.

His appointment caused a political row and he had to have his Latvian citizenship rushed through, and was forced to take a language test and renounce his British citizenship.

But Russia claims he is still taking his orders from London. The newspaper Moskovskie Novosti has said the Latvian security service "is directly controlled by USA and Great Britain".

Last week another newspaper, Argumenti Nedeli, accused Britain of using satellite agencies against Russia. The paper has close links to Russia's intelligence service FSB, formerly headed by President Vladimir Putin.

Russian First Secretary Vyacheslav Yefremov was the first diplomat recalled from Latvia in late December.

Embassy security officer Anatoli Kogalov was also named as a spy in Latvia. Two weeks ago vice-consul Alexander Rogozhin was expelled.

It is the second time in four years that Latvia has kicked out Russian diplomats for spying.

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