Russia Expels Former American Embassy Official

Source: New York Times

A former senior Justice Department official at the American Embassy here was declared “persona non grata” and barred from Russia this month, according to people familiar with the case, possibly because he had rebuffed an effort by the Russian Federal Security Service to recruit him as a spy.

The former official, Thomas Firestone, had been living and working in Moscow as a lawyer for an American law firm, and had extensive contacts in the Russian government. He was detained at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow on May 5 while trying to return to Russia from a trip abroad; and then put him on a flight to the United States

Read more: http://nytimes.com/2013/05/20/world/europe/russia-expels-former-american-embassy-official.html