Russian Security Services Barred U.K. Reporter, Kommersant Says
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's security services barred Luke Harding, the Guardian's Moscow correspondent since 2007, from returning to Russia, Kommersant newspaper reported today, citing unidentified officials in the presidential administration and the Foreign Ministry.
Harding's expulsion was a "misunderstanding," Kremlin and Foreign Ministry officials told Kommersant, a Moscow-based daily. They said that security services made the decision without consulting anyone, Kommersant reported. Harding, who reported that leaked U.S. diplomatic cables described Russia as a "virtual mafia state" was denied entry last weekend. Harding repeatedly travelled to areas where counter-terrorism operations were under way without notifying security services, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday, according to state news service RIA Novosti.
The Foreign Ministry said on its website yesterday that Harding was sent back to London over the weekend because he broke immigration rules. Harding requested an extension of his journalist's accreditation and then left the country without receiving his credentials, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry didn't mention Harding's travel within Russia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg News today as did Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Boldyrev. The Federal Security Service, or FSB, didn't return an e-mailed request for comment.
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