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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Caroline Davies

Philby had to choose ‘between suicide and prosecution’ before 1963 defection

Black and white interior picture of Philby smiling
Harold ‘Kim’ Philby, who fled to Moscow in January 1963. Photograph: PA

Cambridge spy Kim Philby said his choice was “between suicide and prosecution” in a confession shortly before the high-ranking M16 double agent fled on a Russian steamer in 1963, according to previously secret documents.

Philby, the “third man” in the Cambridge Five ring, was confronted by his friend, the MI6 officer Nicholas Elliott, who had been sent by the British security services to persuade Philby to confess.

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