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141 comments on DrumBeat: March 6, 2007

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Stoneleigh on March 6, 2007 - 2:34pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Russian journalist who died in fall reportedly probed weapons deals

A journalist who fell to his death from a fifth-storey window had received threats while preparing a report claiming Russia planned to provide sophisticated weapons to Syria and Iran, his newspaper said Tuesday....

....Kommersant said Safronov recently told colleagues he had been warned he would face a criminal investigation on charges of revealing state secrets if he reported allegations that Russia had struck a deal to supply advanced Iskander missiles to Syria. Such a contract would upset the balance of forces in the Mideast and likely anger Israel and the United States.

Safronov did not say where the warning came from, according to Kommersant, but he had repeatedly been questioned in the past by the Federal Security Service or FSB, which suspected him of divulging state secrets in his reports. The FSB is the main successor agency to the KGB.

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neon9 on March 6, 2007 - 4:31pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Sounds like the cold war all over again. Can't say I'm suprised with Putin's tone over the past few months. His soul ain't looking so good anymore.

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Aniya on March 6, 2007 - 9:12pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

re: Journalists disappearing, getting shot at, etc.

http://www.cpj.org/

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/05/1515205

Iraqi Newspaper Editor Found Dead
The body of an Iraqi journalist who disappeared last week has been found in the Amal district of Baghdad. Jamal al-Zubaidi was the managing editor of Baghdad's al-Safir newspaper.

Russian Critic Shot In Maryland Days After Appearing on NBC
Meanwhile here in this country, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin named Paul Joyal was shot and injured Thursday outside his home in Maryland. The shooting occurred four days after Joyal appeared on Dateline NBC and accused Russian agents of being involved in the radiation poisoning of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. On the program Joyal said a ""message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin: "If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you and we will silence you in the most horrible way possible."" Another person who appeared on the same Dateline NBC program, the journalist Daniel McGrory of The Times of London, died in London two weeks ago. At the time, MSNBC reported that the cause of death was a heart attack.

More on Joyal: Paul M. Joyal is a Vice President at National Strategies, Inc. and directs the Law Enforcement and Public Safety division of the company.
http://www.nationalstrategiesinc.com/team.htm#pj
http://www.inthenationalinterest.com/Articles/Vol1Issue8/Vol1Issue8Joyal...

More at link above.

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