Ambassador hasn't 'foggiest idea' about suspected spy

Russia's ambassador to Canada says he knows nothing about an alleged Russian spy who is said to have lived in the country for more than a decade under a false identity.

In an exclusive interview with CBC News Thursday, Georgiy Mamedov said he is not impressed by the evidence against the man, adding that Russia has no need to spy illegally on Canada.

CSIS claims the suspect, known as Paul William Hampel, has been spying in Canada for several years and is an agent with the SVR, the successor spy agency to the KGB of the former Soviet Union.

In federal court documents, CSIS claims the man is a danger to national security andused a fraudulent Ontario birth certificate to get three Canadian passports.

The manwas arrested by border security officers at Montreal's Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport last week, carrying $7,800 in fivecurrencies, several cellphones and a shortwave radio.

Mamedov said he doesn't have the "foggiest idea about the true nature of this mystery" suspectin Montreal.

He said any information about the suspect he has learned from the media.

"From my unenlightened position, this case is far from [a] slam dunk. If your authorities have certain hard evidence, they are very good at hiding it.

"I don'tsee anything that pins him to our door."

Mamedov said people should let the process run its course and not rush to judgment.

He denied the Russian Embassy helpedthe manobtain the birth certificate orpassports, saying that "I don't run a spy shop here. I'm an ambassador and I didn't know about this guy until you broke the story."

Mamedov said he's not aware of any surveillance going on in Canada andthat any information about Canada can be obtained legally from politicians and business people.

"We are not in the Cold War mode any longer. So I don't see any secrets that would be so important to send some kind of an illegal agent to Montreal."