Epstein Secrets

channel between Russia and the Taliban just under a decade ago has more recently blossomed into a mutually beneficial alliance that has allowed the Kremlin to reassert its influence in the region." Taliban Attack Afghan Intelligence Compound. The New York Times (7/13, Mashal, Rahim, 18.61M) reports th

sky Act to blacklist Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party secretary in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwestern China and a member of the Politburo; Zhu Hailun, party secretary of the Xinjiang political and legal committee; and Wang Mingshan, party secretary of the Xinjiang public security burea

me since his election in March. The atmosphere is likely to be chilly. That is as it should be, for since his decision last autumn to return to the Kremlin, Mr Putin has been stridently negative and anti-Western, most recently over Syria (see article). Such behaviour demands a stiff response from the W

ming its most public fracture since its founding. The Gaza faction sees little reason to make concessions and is particularly skeptical about Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Meshaal's sudden embrace of Palestinian reconciliation with the West Bank-based rival Fatah party, fearing the move will end the group

and, these countries depend on Russian pipelines for their national income. At stake here is not merely the liberation of a vast landmass from the Kremlin's yoke. The damage to Russian leverage would amount to a seismic shift in the global balance of power equal to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. Ru

he EFTA_R1_00224926 EFTA01840333 Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, who was hoping for promotion to the all-powerful Standing Committee of the Politburo. The strange thing is that in 1966, Bo and his family were imprisoned for five years, after which they were placed in a labor camp for a further fi

hared all of it with the Russians, and they are very grateful.” This assessment was backed by Frants Klintsevich. As the first deputy chairman of the Kremlin’s defense and security committee at the time of Snowden’s defection, he was | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 166 @ 9/29/16 5:51 Pa | | HOUSE

minis- | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 172 @ 9/29/16 5:51 Pa | | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019660 The Keys to the Kingdom Are Missing | 173 ter and Politburo member of the Soviet Union and, after the Soviet Union broke up, the first president of Georgia. Even though she had interviewed many top political f

n with the FSB and other Russian agencies. At the outset, Kucherena made it clear to Snowden that he would have to play by Moscow’s tules before the Kremlin would grant him permission to stay in Russia. To begin with, Snowden had to withdraw any and application he had made elsewhere for asylum. He had to

led “Sophie & Co,” was well-admired journalist in her own right. She is also the grand-daughter of Edward Shevardnadze, a former foreign minister and Politburo member of the Soviet Union and, after the Soviet Union broke up, the first president of Georgia. Even though she had interviewed many top political f

ander Litvinenko in London, I had interviewed a number of people in Moscow, including Andrei Lugovoy. A former KGB officer assigned to protecting the Kremlin’s top members in the 1990s, Lugovoy later opened his own security company. In 2005, he became a business associate of Litvinenko’s in gathering infor

t provided to journalists in Hong Kong. Before meeting with Kucherena, I had met with Sophie Shevardnadze, the previously-mentioned grand-daughter of Politburo member Edward Shevardnadze and widely-followe3d television journalist. She told me that Kucherena had personally approved the translation of the inte