Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal wannabe owner's criminal past unearthed by Uzbek ex HM Ambassador Craig Murray - Amazing pictures !!

Stop Press 18th Sept see http://postmanpatel.blogspot.com/2007/09/alisher-usmanov-gross-russian-oligarch.html about AU's buying more shares from Asil Nadir and Landsdowne Holdings

Voidstar runs an RSS feed on Craig Murrays blog and the above has just appeared. Julian Bond at Craig Murray's blog in a comment explains it thus ;

You may know that I republish your RSS feed on my UK Political Blog Aggregator http://www.voidstar.com/ukpoliblog/index.php?fid=269
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, some lawyers phoned me up and asked that I remove the copy of this article re-posted there.
It seems that your wish for a libel action may well be granted.

The cause of this is a post from Craig Murray about the purchase by Alisher Usmanov of David Dein's shares in a third rate London football team called Arsenal which Lord Patel referred to last Saturday, September 1st in a post about how London is filing up with fugitive Russian billionaire criminals - further and better particulars of the details of the transaction can be found in this report by AFP.

Craig Murray's estimable piece is entitled (characteristically challenging, and crystal clear in content and intent)

Alisher Usmanov, potential Arsenal chairman, is a Vicious Thug, Criminal, Racketeer, Heroin Trafficker and Accused Rapist

Apparently in a letter from Mr Usmanov's lawyers (no name provided) to London's finest press barons (no date or signatory given) they are quoted , saying inter alia

“Mr Usmanov (see pic - click to enlarge) was imprisoned for various offences under the old Soviet regime. We wish to make it clear our client did not commit any of the offences with which he was charged. He was fully pardoned after President Mikhail Gorbachev took office. All references to these matters have now been expunged from police records . . . Mr Usmanov does not have any criminal record.”

Craig, who has wide long and deep experience and contacts in these matters, states unequivocally ..."Let me make it quite clear that Alisher Usmanov is a criminal. He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail. The lawyers cunningly evoke "Gorbachev", a name respected in the West, to make us think that justice prevailed. That is completely untrue."

He then goes on to describe in some detail how Usmanov he has built up his vast empire of Gazprom as a sidekick of President Putin bribing the beautiful Gulnara Karimova , the daughter of President Karimov of Uzbekistan with US$88 ,with the help of people like his old college roomate and Putin's chef de cabinet, Piotr Jastrzebski and connections through president Karimov of Mafiosis and international heroin overlord Gafur Rakimov.

Gazprom was of course involved in seizing Russian Press and TV - including Komersant The major financial newspaper, Kommersant, which Usmanov bought personally, sacked the editor-in-chief and replaced him with with a pro-Putin hack - long-serving campaigning defence correspondent, Ivan Safronov (pic) , died after another Muscovite Mafia motivated de-fenestration.(More details in another post here) also see here "Ivan Safronov Was Killed" - No suicide note was found. His expensive cellular telephone and his wallet, with money in it, were found on the body.

Finally Craig Murray claims.."Usmanov is also dogged by the widespread belief in Uzbekistan that he was guilty of a particularly atrocious rape, which was covered up and the victim and others in the know disappeared. "

He recommends that the Arsenal fans ( a rare breed for this struggling minnow) see off Usmanov, which given the Byzantine complexity of the shareholdings is easier said than done.(Board members:Diamond dealer Danny Fiszman 24%Lady Bracewell-Smith 15.8% Richard Carr 4.35% Peter Hill-Wood 0.8% Others:David Dein 14.5% Stan Kroenke 11.26% Small investors 18.03%)David Dein's son is also married into the Buchler family who run another third rate London club called Tottenham Hotspurs... and they all jolly pally with people like Karaoke King Lord Levy "Make mine a bronet", and stockbroker Mr Barry Townsend who wasn't made one after lending New Labour a £Million.

The article was also posted on 3rd September at Google Group soc.culture.usa

See also post at Indymedia - Craig's ISP has pulled the post after receipt of letter from lawyers -Schillings. There are links to 3 more posts in cyberspace and they also re-post the agreeable portrait.