The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service dismissed the accusations.
''Similar, baseless accusations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more than once," said an agency spokesman, Boris Labusov. ''We don't consider it necessary to comment on such fabrications."
Yevgenia Albats, a journalist based in Moscow who specializes in intelligence matters, said she suspected there was ''at least a certain truth reflected in the Pentagon report," considering Russia's relationship with Hussein.
But she cautioned that this did not necessarily mean the Kremlin was involved.
''It is sometimes difficult to figure out whether certain steps were undertaken with the knowledge of top Russian authorities or whether those were steps undertaken by certain intelligence officers on their own," Albats said in an interview.
She also said the release of the Pentagon report probably had as much to do with the poor state of Russian-US relations as their differences over the Iraq war, which with other disputes have frayed a once promising partnership between Presidents Bush and Vladimir V. Putin that developed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Albats noted that the report had appeared on the heels of Putin's trip last week to China, which added to US unease over strengthening Moscow-Beijing ties. That development has caused Washington to recognize ''it had lost whatever leverage it had over Russia," she said.
''It wasn't just another visit to China, it was a statement addressed to the United States," she added. ''There is concern in Washington that China plus Russia, combined, will present a real problem for the United States."
A leading Russian Internet news agency, Gazeta.ru, speculated that the Pentagon report was released to affect the UN Security Council debate on what to do about Iran's nuclear program.
''The leak about Russian spies in Doha can be interpreted as pressure on Moscow, which has taken a tough, principled position on the Iranian nuclear question," it said.
Sergei Oznobishchev, head of the Institute of Strategic Evaluations and Analyses, also tied the report to increasing US distrust for Russia.
''They are irritated by Russia's strengthening position in the international arena and its foreign policy course," Oznobishchev was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
