'Russia warned military attache
3 times before expulsion'
23/05/2011
Israeli embassy in Moscow received
3 official notes claiming Liederman violated the Vienna Convention, 'Komsomolskaya
Pravda' reports.
The Israeli military attache
to Russia, Vadim Leiderman, who was expelled by Moscow last week, received
three prior warnings by the Russian government prior to his deportation,
Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya
Pravda reported Monday.
In November of 2009, the Russian
Foreign Ministry sent the first of three notes to the Israeli Embassy,
pointing to what it claimed were violations of of the Vienna Convention
on Diplomatic Relations, according to the report. The second warning was
issued to the embassy in April 2010. The final warning, according to Komsomolskaya
Pravda, was issued in December 2010.
Following the third warning,
the embassy reportedly sent a conciliatory response: "All actions by the
military attache at the embassy, V. Liederman, will be performed with strict
observance of the provisions of the Vienna Convention..."
According to Russian accusations,
Liederman was actually working for IDF military intelligence, advancing
the Israeli defense industry, promoting products and firms. Liederman was
apparently actively seeking contractors for Israel firms, lobbying the
interests of IAI, Elbit and others.
Additionally, the Russian report
accused Liederman of seeking information on diplomatic and trade relations
between Russia and other countries. Israeli reports have indicated that
he was accused of seeking information on arms deals between Moscow and
Arab states.
The Russian government, it is
claimed, did not intend for the affair to receive media attention. Komsomolskaya
Pravda reported that the FSB
decided against disclosing details of the incident. "But as happened in
the past, the Israelis made a deliberate leak" in anticipation of "tendentious
material reaching the media," which it described as bewildering,
the newspaper quoted FSB
officials as saying.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson
was not available to comment at the time of this report.
(JPost.Com) |