Very Strange Happenings Re:(Arctic Sea)
Maritime expert flees Russia in fear of his life
An outspoken Russian journalist who alerted the world to the mysterious
disappearance and likely hijacking of the Arctic Sea cargo ship this summer
said on Thursday he'd fled Russia in fear of his life.
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 4:41PM BST 03 Sep 2009
Mikhail Voitenko, a maritime expert, has suggested the ship may have been
carrying a secret Kremlin arms shipment for the Middle East. He believes it
was not hijacked as the Kremlin contends but was intercepted by Israeli
forces in an international incident neither country wants made public.
In a phone interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said he'd flown to Turkey
on Wednesday after receiving a menacing call from a "a cold official voice"
the previous day.
"I was advised to leave," Mr Voitenko said. "I'm afraid." He refused to say
who the caller was but hinted the person was a state official.
Mr Voitenko runs an authoritative online news service for a Moscow-based
Russian transport and shipping company. He was the most prominent expert
voice during this summer's alleged hijacking of the Arctic Sea. He suggests
he played a direct role in resolving the drama himself too.
The Maltese-flagged vessel and its Russian crew hit the headlines after
disappearing with its cargo of Algeria-bound timber. The Russian Navy found
the ship in mid-August, three weeks after it had allegedly been hijacked by
armed men.
The Kremlin has yet to supply a detailed version of events, the crew has
refused to say what happened, and the alleged hijackers are in a Moscow
jail.
Mr Voitenko thinks he's offended powerful Russian interests. "Very important
people got involved in this business. It was half-private, half-state." He
and other commentators have speculated the ship was carrying a secret
weapons cache bound for Iran or Syria that was intercepted by Israeli
intelligence.
Asked if he planned to return to Russia anytime soon, Mr Voitenko replied:
"Am I an idiot?"
He added that his employer, the Sovfracht-Sovmortrans shipping group, was
considering his future because it was worried he had damaged its business
interests in Russia. The company's press service was unavailable for
comment.
"I became too popular," Mr Voitenko lamented. "Publicity is one thing.
Meddling with someone you don't know is something else."
The Plot Thickens! Rgds,Ken
