JOYAL AND SAFRONOV: 2 MORE REASONS TO SUSPECT PUTIN WHACKED LITVINENKO

YAHOO/AP:

A journalist who plunged to his death from his apartment building window faced threats while reporting on a highly sensitive story that Russia planned to sell sophisticated missiles to Syria and Iran, his newspaper reported Tuesday.

Ivan Safronov, a military affairs writer for the daily Kommersant, died Friday after plunging from a stairwell window between the fourth and fifth stories. Kommersant reported Tuesday that Safronov had told his editors he was working on a story about Russian plans to sell weapons to Iran and Syria via Belarus. The deals, if concluded, could upset the balance of power in the Middle East and strain Russia's relations with Israel and the United States, which have strongly objected to earlier Russian weapons sales to the two countries.

Kommersant reported that Safronov, 51, had recently told colleagues he was warned he would face a criminal investigation for possibly releasing state secrets if he reported allegations that Russia had struck a deal to supply Iskander missiles to Syria.

WASH EXAMINER/AP:

An expert on Russian intelligence was critically injured in a shooting in front of his suburban Washington home, authorities said. The shooting of Paul Joyal, 53, came days after he accused the Russian government of involvement in the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Joyal was shot Thursday by two men in the driveway of his Adelphi, Md., home, police said. Few details were released about the incident, and the identities of the shooters were not known. The shooting appeared to be a random robbery and street shooting, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person did not have authority to comment on the case.

NEWSMAX:

An expert on Russian intelligence was shot and critically wounded in front of his home in suburban Washington, D.C., just days after he charged that the Russian government was behind the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Paul Joyal, who works for a Washington-based government consulting firm, was shot on March 1 by two men in his driveway.

The shooting raises suspicions of Russian involvement, given that critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin — journalists, politicians, and others — at times end up suffering violent deaths.

Anyone who persists in denying Putin's likely involvement in Litvinenko's death is in deep denial. As is Bush if he thinks Putin can be a trusted ally. Putin is a dangerous foe, and must be treated as such.