Posted on 09/03/2009 2:03:15 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The man who alerted told the world that cargo ship the Arctic Sea was missing has fled Russia fearing Moscow's revenge.
Russian piracy expert Mikhail Voitenko made it clear he believed the Russian state was involved in the bizarre disappearance of the ship last month.
He was in hiding in Turkey today after warnings he hinted were from his country's secret services.
There was speculation he may seek asylum in Britain, which has become the main asylum point for Russians who fall foul of the Kremlin.
'I received a call on Tuesday night,' he said. 'They said: 'Mikhail, we've all had enough of you'.'
Asked who the callers were, he said: 'Guess'.
He claimed was told: 'There are serious people who are behind this case and they are very upset'.
Voitenko refused to identify the callers, hinting however they were from special services and wanted to stifle what would be a potential scandal.
'Those who had been behind this want to take revenge on me. If they throw me in jail, there would be another scandal,' he said.
The twist comes amid speculation that the Arctic Sea was carrying a secret cargo of Russian missiles or nuclear materials intended for a Middle Eastern state as well its official load of timber.
Voitenko used his online maritime bulletin to alert the world to an apparent hijacking and disappearance of the vessel in late July.
He made clear he believed the Russian state was involved in the bizarre disappearance and recovery of the vessel two weeks later.
The Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea and its 15 crew members were seized by eight hijackers in Swedish waters on July 24 and freed by the Russian Navy off the west African coast on August 17.
Russia has failed to give a plausible version of what happened....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
He can bunk with that Salman Rushdie dude.
And that *scandal* would have something to do with shipping something to a certain middle East country?
OK so this was that load of Russian S-300 AA missiles bound for Tehran, sold in order to fend off a US/IDF air strike and seized by the Mossad...?
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