Russia Expels Two U.S. Military Attaches From Moscow

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

Published: May 8, 2008
Filed at 10:28 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia has ordered the expulsion of two U.S. military attaches from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said the State Department on Thursday.

"They have been asked to leave. We object to the action but will comply with the Russian government's request," said a State Department official, who said he could not be identified according to department rules.

The official declined to say why the military attaches had been asked to leave the country and he did not know whether the two had already left Moscow.

"They have not been declared persona non grata but they have been asked to leave," said the official. "For the time being we are not going into details on this," he added.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-russia-usa-expulsions.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[pegleg]

1. You can bet that with Mccain as president, relations with Russia

will become cold war style again. He harbors too many bad memories of them from his Vietnam days.

[struggle4progress]

2. Russia Expels Two U.S. Military Attaches From Country (Update2) (Bloomberg)

By Viola Gienger and Ken Fireman

May 8 (Bloomberg) --

... State Department spokeswoman Jessica Simon .... referred any further questions to the Russian government.

A Kremlin spokesman said he had no information on the expulsions and referred questions to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The ministry, which previously declined to comment to the state-run news service RIA Novosti, couldn't immediately be reached by Bloomberg News.

In Washington, the press attache at the Russian Embassy to the U.S., Yevgeniy Khorishko, declined to comment. ``We never give any comment on such kinds of issues,'' he said ...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aCrIbJ8RQcEE&refer=europe

[struggle4progress]

3. Russia 'expels US embassy staff' (BBC)

Page last updated at 14:20 GMT, Thursday, 8 May 2008 15:20 UK

... Two Russians have been expelled from Washington in recent months, one in November and the second on 22 April.

The news comes as Russia conducts a transition of power with Vladimir Putin becoming prime minister and Dmitry Medvedev president.

The expulsion order was given some days ago but was only revealed by the state department on Thursday ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7390499.stm

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. the only question - When was Condi Last There?

that would explain a lot.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Russia orders two American military attaches to leave Moscow

Russia orders two American military attaches to leave Moscow
5/8/2008 11:17 AM ET (RTTNews)

Two American military attaches at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow have been asked to leave the country, according to Gonzalo Gallegos, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department. Gallegos said the State Department would comply with the Russian government's request made on April 28 despite objection to the action.

The Russian action appeared to be in retaliation to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Washington last month. A Russian military officer was ordered to leave Washington on April 22, officials said.

However, U.S. officials denied any connection to this incident. The Associated Press quoted an unspecified U.S. State Department official as saying that the United States viewed them as “separate incidents.”

The official said that none of the military attaches involved have been declared “persona non grata” or accused of specific wrongful conduct, such as espionage.

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=600384