US arrests Russian UN diplomat

[emad]

A Russian diplomat based at the United Nations has appeared in a US federal court on money laundering charges.

Vladimir Kuznetsov, the elected head of a key UN budget oversight committee, had been arrested in an FBI raid.

He is accused of helping another UN official launder hundreds of thousands of dollars, says the indictment.

Mr Kuznetsov, 48, was taken into custody on Thursday night after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed to waive his diplomatic immunity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210898.stm

[emad]

1. Oil-for-fraud programme? That's DumbassCo's speciality.

?

[leesa]

2. Money laundering?? That's rich...ask Cheney and Bush, PhDs in money

laundering.

[VegasWolf]

3. Why don't they arrest Halliburton en masse? nt

[emcguffie]

4. Gee, what do you think they mean when they say "UN official"?

Would that be a diplomat, like someone from a State's delegation to the UN? Or do they mean a UN employee?

It's a basic distinction that is rarely made. People who work for the UN are not diplomats. Diplomats are not UN officials. Sometimes diplomats may take a job with the UN, of course, but then they are no longer representing their country, and are no longer diplomats. Then they become "bureaucrats", I guess?

They'll blame this on the SG, of course, "more outrageous fraud at the UN..." Hmm, maybe I'm confused, maybe the SG isn't a UN official, maybe he's a diplomat? Maybe that Russian diplomat's boss is somehow the SG of the UN? Maybe the SG really works for Russia, and not the UN General Assembly. He must. Otherwise, how could he be held responsible for what a Russian diplomat does?

Sorry, I get really sick of this.