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AFP - Spain has expelled two Russian diplomats in a move that triggered a tit-for-tat reaction from Moscow, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The two Russian embassy staffers were asked to leave the country for having "engaged in activities incompatible with their status," the ministry said in a statement. In diplomatic language, the phrase is usually taken to mean spying. The statement said the embassy was notified of the decision "about a month ago." "In retaliation," Russia expelled two Spanish diplomats from Moscow, the ministry said. "The two governments believe the incident is closed," said the written statement read by...

5. (S) Rahmonov added, "Actually, It's the Russian special services who cause trouble here....it's coming from the Kremlin, and some of it comes from the top. We can never forget that Putin himself is a 'chekist' (career intelligence officer) at heart." 6. (S) Rahmonov said, "I want to tell you a secret why I insisted that the Russian Border Guards had to leave Tajikistan. You know they're part of the KGB. I had credible information they and (jailed General Gaffor) Mirzoyev were plotting a coup against me. ....Only after I moved against Mirzoyev did Putin finally understand that their game...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Belarus, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine are already or are swiftly becoming 'mafia states' according to a senior Spanish prosecutor cited in US diplomatic cables. The appraisal, given by Spanish prosecutor Jose 'Pepe' Grinda Gonzalez to US diplomats in Madrid in February this year, noted: "He considers Belarus, Chechnya and Russia to be virtual 'mafia states' and said that Ukraine is going to be one. For each of those countries, he alleged, one cannot differentiate between the activities of the government and OC [organised crime] groups." Mr Grinda added that Georgian citizens play key roles in criminal...

The disclosure of State Department cables by Wikileaks reveals that "senior US officials . . . fear that Russia's notorious mafia has connections at the heart of the government" as reported by Andy Potts for The Moscow News. The cables detail "allegations that Russia and its intelligence agencies are using mafia bosses to carry out criminal operations, with one cable reporting that the relationship is so close that the country has become a 'virtual mafia state'" as reported by David Leigh for The Guardian.

Dubai's police chief plans to seek the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the Mossad over the killing of a Hamas leader in the emirate, Al Jazeera television reported on Wednesday. Dahi Khalfan Tamim "said he would ask the Dubai prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for ... Netanyahu and the head of Mossad," the television said. It did not give details. Tamim has said he is "almost certain" Israeli agents were involved in the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at a Dubai hotel in January, calling for Mossad's boss, Meir Dagan, to be arrested if...

GENEVA (AP) - A killer - or killers - may be on the loose in Europe after a Hamas operative was slain last month in Dubai. European nations, however, seem to be in no rush to find him, her or them. The spotlight is falling on those countries where police say the alleged assassins' trails begin and end: Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Authorities there have either declined to say whether they are investigating, or told The Associated Press they have no reason to hunt down the 26 suspects implicated in the Jan. 19 killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh....

Da boy in Dubai. Or, more accurately, da dead boy in Dubai. Da boy is Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a leading Hamas operative who habitually boasted of killing two Israeli soldiers and was renowned as an arms supplier for various Palestinian groups in Gaza. He who lives by the Kalashnikov tends to die by the Kalashnikov. It’s a tragedy that violence still occurs in the world, but it would be equally tragic if we singled out one nation for condemnation. There is a very good chance that some branch of Israeli intelligence killed the man. The Mossad is often mentioned, but historically...

Israel is facing uncomfortable questions regarding senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead in a Dubai hotel room on Jan. 20. Dubai police say al-Mabhouh was assassinated, but in his chosen profession, his fate really was the result of workplace-related injuries. Dubai has named 26 suspects in the case, and has evidence including credit card records, flight itineraries and closed-circuit television footage supposedly showing the accused assassins stalking their quarry. Much of the furor over the case has arisen over the apparent fraudulent use of British, Irish, French, German, Australian and other passports. The British government said...

The Dubai police has published a video showing alledged intelligence agents operating in a Dubai hotel last January 19, 2010, and suspected of having killed Hamas high-ranking figure Mahmud al-Mabuh.

What do you call a story whose plot includes 11 skilled rogues coming together in an exotic locale for the ultimate teamwork takedown, and then disappearing into the mist to celebrate their acts of derring-do? Using their skills to find their target, track it, and then finally acquire it sounds like Oceans 11, right? Yes, except this story features primarily British olim (immigrants to Israel) and instead of knocking over a casino, this story includes knocking out a terrorist. Using the Hollywood props of fake wigs, fake passports, fake tennis outfits, fake room service and a real cattle prod and...

When I grew up, the Soviet Union was considered a super power. Today it doesn't even exist. Isn't it amazing how rapidly the images of national power can shift? I'm Swedish and know a little about fighting Russia. My family and our ancestors have done so for centuries. We have been shot at, raided, ambushed etc. But never intimidated from defending Nordic freedom. I'm no hero. Several of my ancestors were though and the least I can do in order to honor them is to stand up for what eternally is true and right, help build my own country and...

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - Russia's top general said on Wednesday the military would search the Arctic Sea merchant ship for a possible secret cargo when it returns to Russia from a maritime odyssey that has made headlines around the world.Russia says the Maltese-registered Arctic Sea, officially carrying timber from Finland to Algeria, was hijacked by eight men off the coast of Sweden on July 24. This month Russian warships intercepted the vessel off the coast of Cape Verde."We do not know yet what it is carrying, we only know it is timber. But what else it is actually transporting. It...

LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and JANET DIFIORE, the District Attorney of Westchester County, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging ARTEM CHERNE, YEVGENY DYNKIN, ANDREW BURBAN, ANTHONY KALIKA, ANTON HUSYEV, LEONID VODVOZOV, ALEH MASALAKOV, ROBERT WOJICKI, and ROMAN LIKHADZIYEVSKI with offenses stemming from their membership in a criminal group involved in retail store burglaries, extortion, firearms offenses, marijuana trafficking, credit card fraud, identity theft, and other crimes. As...

A ONE-ARMED multi-millionaire, who is alleged to be the last of the Russian crime bosses of the 1990s to stay in business, has gone on trial in Moscow, accused of ordering a botched attempt to murder a rival in his silver Rolls-Royce. .... “I’m innocent and this trial is a farce,” Barsukov told The Sunday Times during the hearing. “I don’t fear this court and I’m far from broken. The only judgment that matters to me is God’s. I’m in very good spirits and when I look back on my life I’ve no regrets whatsoever.” He is accused of having...

On March 23, 2009 the Moscow City Court ruled that Semion Mogilevich, also known as Sergiy Shneider, will remain in prison until May 23 while investigators continue to examine his case. (Kommersant Daily, March 24). This is the third extension of his detention the court has ordered since Mogilevich was arrested on January 23, 2008 and charged with abetting in a tax evasion scheme. What makes this case highly sensitive is that Mogilevich has been suspected of having close links to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the opaque gas trade between Gazprom and Ukraine and RosUkrEnergo. Mogilevich is a...

From Himalayan villages to Eastern European cities, people — especially women and girls — are attracted by the prospect of a well-paid job as a domestic servant, waitress or factory worker. Human traffickers recruit victims through fake advertisements, mail-order bride catalogues and casual acquaintances. Upon arrival at their destination, victims are placed in conditions controlled by traffickers while they are exploited to earn illicit revenues. Many are physically confined, their travel or identity documents are taken away and they or their families are threatened if they do not cooperate. Women and girls forced to work as prostitutes are blackmailed by...

Top brass flew to Baghdad with publicity-shy empowerment businessman Mzilikazi Wa Afrika, Jessica Bezuidenhout and Andre Jurgens Two of the ANC's most powerful officials travelled to Iraq with a controversial Johannesburg businessman just weeks before he landed a R1.2-billion state oil deal. Sandi Majali is one of about 270 people around the world who have been named in an alleged sanctions-busting scam involving oil from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime. The names appeared in Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organisation documents found after the fall of Saddam. Majali, 41, who heads the media-shy empowerment company Imvume Resources, has for the...

Bernard L. Madoff was once the chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange. He was one of the most important market makers on Wall Street. And he managed what was, by some estimates, the largest hedge fund on the planet.

George Soros is the biggest sugar daddy of the Democratic Party, and naturally wants to ensure that the Democrats have a monopoly of power in America. Recently, I wrote an article for American Thinker on the role that George Soros has played in helping the Democrat Al Franken in his race against the Republican incumbent Norm Coleman for a Senate seat in Minnesota. However, there may be one other reason that Soros was determined that Norm Coleman in particular lose his seat. This was personal. Norm Coleman was the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as...

Local law enforcement sources were sceptical, yet cautious yesterday about a report alleging a Russian mafia plot to kidnap Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Sir Mark is currently on the Rock amid speculation that authorities in Equatorial Guinea will issue an international warrant for his arrest in connection with a failed coup in 2004. In a further twist to an already bizarre tale, a specialist US newsletter claimed the British secret intelligence agency MI6 had warned Sir Mark that a powerful Russian criminal organisation had offered to kidnap him and take him...