Convicted spy Pope awaits release

MOSCOW, Russia -- U.S. businessman Edmond Pope, convicted by a Russian court of espionage, could be released on Thursday -- the first day President Vladimir Putin is permitted to fulfil a promise to pardon him.

But there was no immediate word from Moscow about whether the 54-year-old former naval intelligence officer would be set free.

Putin promised in a telephone conversation with U.S. President Bill Clinton that he would release Pope, who last week became the first Westerner since the Cold War to be convicted of spying in Russia.

Putin also said publicly he would heed a recommendation by his clemency board, which said Pope -- who is suffering from a rare form of cancer -- should go free.

But the president said he could not act before Pope's 20-year sentence took effect officially on November 14.

Putin left Moscow on Wednesday for a visit to Cuba and Canada and it was not clear whether the pardon would be issued in his absence.

A spokeswoman for U.S. congressman John Peterson, who is in Moscow accompanying Pope's wife Cheri, said late on Wednesday the family had not received word of an impending release.

Cheri Pope said on Wednesday she hoped to bring her husband home this week. Pope's father is terminally ill.

"I don't care if I have to swim home, we'll be out of here as fast as we can. First the doctors, then home to Oregon to see his father," Cheri Pope said. "He needs to hold his dad's hand one more time."

Pope was convicted of trying to obtain state secrets on a high-speed torpedo. He has maintained his innocence, saying the information was already openly available.

He was repeatedly denied check-ups for his rare form of bone cancer, which was in remission when he arrived in Moscow.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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