Every Russki in America arrested for spying

[Jan Klimkowski]

:hmmmm2:

Anna Chapman 'is an ordinary girl', says her father-in-law

Kevin Chapman first met Anna when she and Alex returned to England from Russia after their secret marriage in 2002

The British father-in-law of Anna Chapman has spoken of his bewilderment after hearing she had been arrested following accusations that she is associated with a Russian spy ring.

Kevin Chapman, father of Alex Chapman, said: "If there is any grain of truth in all of this, then I think that Anna was set up or seduced into something because of the glamour. I feel very sorry for her. She must be feeling very frightened right now.

"She's simply not some Mata Hari, she can't be... she's just an ordinary girl," he told the Daily Mail.

Chapman, 56, batted back claims that the Russian diplomat's daughter had married his son in order to obtain a British passport.

"I'm convinced it wasn't a honey trap. They were so much in love. It just doesn't add up," said the mortgage advisor from Weybridge in Surrey.

Chapman first met Anna when she and Alex returned to England from Russia after their secret marriage in 2002.

He said: "It was a surprise but we were pleased. She ticked all the boxes really, she was attractive, intelligent and from a good background and nice personality.

"She was a very pleasing daughter-in-law and they were talking about having kids. I don't know why they split up."

Chapman said that when the couple returned from Russia they didn't have "two pennies to rub together".

"If she was being groomed by the KGB, you would have thought they would have set her up a bit better … they didn't give her a very good expense account."

Jane Chapman, his ex-wife and mother of Alex, also found it hard to believe her former daughter-in-law was guilty of the allegations.

"I knew Anna, I saw her with my son and they were genuinely in love. I don't believe you can fake that. I couldn't have wished for a nicer daughter-in-law. If she were found guilty, then I would think because of her age she'd been sucked into something," she said.

Mrs Chapman recalled the day Alex first told her about Anna.

"Alex phoned me and said: 'Mum, I've met the most amazing girl and I've fallen head over heels in love.' It was the first time he'd ever spoken about a girl like that before," she said.

"She seemed shy, unsophisticated and sweet. I liked her immediately and thought they were the perfect match. They were both very intellectual, passionate and driven, and when Anna came to stay for Christmas she and Alex spent the whole time cuddled up together in an armchair in front of the log fire. They didn't seem to be able to spend a minute apart."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul...n-spy-ring