U.S. businessman freed by Russia spends restful first night in freedom

LANDSTUHL, Germany - U.S. businessman Edmond Pope, fresh from being pardoned by Russia for a spying conviction he denies, was in good spirits Friday after a restful first night in freedom at a German hospital, a spokeswoman said.

Pope, 54, arrived at the U.S. military's Landstuhl Medical Center within hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered him released Thursday. He immediately underwent medical tests and counseling, seeing a specialist for internal medicine and a psychologist - and then had a good night's sleep, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said.

''He rested very well. He is in good spirits,'' she said. ''And he's had a good breakfast.''

Pope had been sentenced to 20 years in jail last week, the first alleged U.S. spy convicted by Russia in four decades, but Putin pardoned him to help relations with the United States. Pope looked tired when he arrived in Germany after 253 days in Moscow's high-security Lefortovo prison.

The release came soon after George W. Bush accepted victory in the U.S. presidential election, and some Russian experts speculated the move was made in hopes of garnering the president-elect's favor. Thursday was the first day Putin could have released Pope under Russian law. A presidential pardons commission had recommended the move following Pope's conviction.

A Putin spokesman told The Associated Press that the Russian leader pardoned Pope on humanitarian grounds and to preserve good relations with Washington. President Clinton welcomed the release.

Pope, who has suffered in the past from a rare form of bone cancer and whose health deteriorated while in prison, was to undergo a complete medical examination at Landstuhl, about 85 miles southwest of Frankfurt. Doctors said he might spend 24 to 36 hours in Germany before returning to Oregon, where his parents live.

One of Pope's first wishes Thursday was for a cup of black coffee. Hospital officials said he appeared healthy and not malnourished.

Pope has rejected Russian charges that he illegally obtained plans for a top-secret Russian Navy torpedo, saying what he purchased was not secret and that the technology had already been sold abroad. Pope sent a letter to Putin asking for clemency on the eve of his conviction, said his wife, Cheri.

Cheri Pope had headed to the prison Thursday morning only hoping to visit her husband for the first time since the Dec. 6 verdict. She had been denied visits on several previous attempts, said Jennifer Bennett, spokeswoman for Pope's Pennsylvania Congressman, Rep. John Peterson. Instead, Pope was let go, and he and his wife soon were on a plane to Germany.

Pope's company, TechSource Marine Industries, is based in State College, Pa.