http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=11227
Russian nuclear scientist arrested in Switzerland ISN SECURITY WATCH (04/05/05) - Former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov was arrested in Switzerland on Monday at the request of US authorities, who accuse him of stealing up to US$9 million in aid provided by Washington to help Russia improve nuclear safety. The Swiss Justice Ministry said on Wednesday that Adamov would be extradited to the US on a warrant accusing him of diverting money provided by the US Department of Energy to several US companies he controls. Adamov's chief lawyer, Lanny Breuer of Washington, called the accusations "baseless", The New York Times reported on Wednesday. Breuer said Adamov faced many years in a US prison if convicted. According to the daily, Adamov had arrived in Bern to confer with Swiss officials who had blocked bank accounts belonging to his daughter. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the charges against Adamov were related to his commercial activities before he assumed the cabinet post in 1998. Adamov is Russia's leading nuclear physicist. Before his three-year stint in the government, he headed a research institute that designs nuclear reactors. He was removed from his post in a sweeping overhaul of the cabinet by Russian President Vladimir Putin a year after Putin's election in 2000. It is not the first time that Adamov has been under scrutiny for his financial activities. In 2001, the Russian parliament's anti-corruption committee accused him of secretly controlling firms at home and abroad while serving as minister. In 2002, US authorities launched a probe into one such consulting firm, called Omeka and registered in Pennsylvania. The firm served as a mediator in a US-Russian project in which a US company was buying weapons-grade uranium stripped from Russian warheads. At that time, Adamov's ministry was overseeing price negotiations between Russia and the US company. Adamov has consistently denied the allegations against him, saying he was being punished for shrugging off US objections to Russia's hand in building a nuclear plant in Bushehr, Iran. US officials have expressed concern that the technology could be used by Iran to develop nuclear weapons. The construction of the Bushehr plant was recently completed, and Russia plans to begin shipments of nuclear fuel to the plant in the coming weeks. (By Nabi Abdullaev in Moscow) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
