Russians Allow U.S. ‘Spy’ To Head Home For Christmas Phone Technician Arrested For Using Global Positioning System

Spying charges, an 18-hour flight delay and hectic holiday travel schedules did not stop Richard Bliss from finally making it home from Russia on Thursday for Christmas.

Bliss arrived at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field about 5:30 p.m. and was immediately hugged by about 20 family members and friends who flew in from across the country to see the 29-year-old field technician.

Bliss was arrested late November on espionage charges while installing a cellular phone system in the city of Rostov-on-Don, about 600 miles south of Moscow.

Pressure from Vice President Al Gore and others persuaded the Russians to let Bliss come home for two weeks under an agreement between his employer, San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc., and Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

It also appeared the Russian officials might be softening their stance on a demand that Bliss return Jan. 10 to face spying charges. But the Interfax news agency reported Thursday that the term of Bliss’ stay in the United States had not been defined.

Bliss’ return was delayed when ice-covered runways closed the Rostovon-Don airport on Tuesday and prevented a Qualcomm-chartered jet from landing to pick him up.

Qualcomm then scrambled to get Bliss on commercial flights during the holiday travel season. He was first flown to Moscow, then waited about a day for the first flight out on an Air France jet to Paris. He transferred there to the first plane bound for Los Angeles. Qualcomm then chartered a flight to San Diego.

Bliss could be summoned back to Russia at any moment, FSB spokesman Maj. Gen. Alexander Zdanovich told Interfax.

But his Russian lawyer, Valery Petryayev, said the release was an admission of the weakness of the government’s case.

“Of course, had he been a real spy, nobody would have sent him to America for Christmas,” Petryayev told Russian television.

Also returning with Bliss was fellow employee Robert Holt.

Holt and Bliss were detained for questioning and their equipment confiscated on Nov. 25.

Bliss was arrested, jailed for 12 days and charged with espionage for using Global Positioning System equipment to survey sensitive areas.

The system works by communicating with an umbrella of satellites orbiting the Earth. The receiver unit picks a satellite signal, and when three satellites link up with GPS, the user can record precise latitude and longitude.

Bliss was using GPS equipment to make land surveys, according to his company. It was part of an effort to locate receiving and transmitting stations for installation of a Russian cellular system.

Systems similar to the one Bliss was using can be found in stores such as The Sharper Image or Radio Shack.

But under Russian law, survey measurements accurate to within 30 yards are considered a state secret, say security officials.