Lawyers - FBI spy betrayed Russian general

WASHINGTON -- Convicted FBI spy Robert Hanssen gave away the identity of a Russian army general who was one of the United States' best sources in the Soviet military, lawyers familiar with the Hanssen case said Thursday.

Hanssen disclosed his 1979 betrayal of Dimitri Polyakov during discussions in recent months with prosecutors, according to the attorneys, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hanssen avoided the death penalty after agreeing to plead guilty to espionage and detailing his espionage activities to U.S. intelligence officials.

The Los Angeles Times first reported on Hanssen's betrayal of Polyakov this week.

Despite Hanssen's turning over Polyakov's name to the GRU, the Soviet military intelligence agency, the Russian general was not arrested until 1986, after CIA spy Aldrich Ames gave his name to the KGB.

"It appears the GRU protected Polyakov or used him to play back" false information to the U.S., said one source.

Polyakov -- whose codename was "Top Hat" -- was recalled to Moscow from an overseas post and executed.

Hanssen attorney Plato Cacheris declined to comment.

Hanssen began spying three years after joining the FBI and giving up Polyakov was one of his early acts of spying.