Russian presidential hopeful Rybkin says he was drugged and kidnapped

[rodbarnett]

Russia's presidential hopeful Ivan Rybkin, who mysteriously disappeared for five days, said Friday that he was drugged, kidnapped and kept unconscious by captors who had lured him to Ukraine.

Rybkin, who said the incident involved a murky attempt involving a video tape to "compromise" him, also announced he would not withdraw from the March 14 Russian elections and told a London press conference he would conduct his campaign from Western Europe.

Rybkin said that he had gone to Ukraine on the understanding that he would be meeting Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov for peace negotiations.

On arrival in Kiev on February 6, Rybkin said he was driven to an apartment where he was told to wait for Maskhadov.

"I had some tea and some sandwiches and suddenly I felt very drowsy," Rybkin said through a Russian interpreter.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040213/1/3i07u.html

[belle]

1. Jesus.

[noonwitch]

2. Is he planning to run against Putin for the job?

If so, than I guess the KGB is still alive and well and working for Putin.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Hmmm - not too many writers don't take credit for their articles - -

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So who exactly "reported" this story . :shrug: .

I went to the home site - http://www.afp.com/english/home/

oh yah,

the story is there,

but it still doesn't say who the reporter was . . .

'scuse my suspicious nature

I've been this way ever since I started noticing King Georgie's insane behavior . .

[plurality]

7. After hearing learning this is how things still work in Russia...

would you want the 'authorities' to know you broke this story? I would be quite concerned I would be in for it the same or perhaps even worse by having my name associated with this.

[tom_paine]

4. Putin has certainly ran with the Bushevik Playbook, hans't he?

Wow, he has the Russian Empire and it's managed democracy to a point we won't liekly get to until at least the reign of Emperor Jeb, if not Emperor Arnold.

I think things will be much worse by the time we get Emperor George P. Caligula.

[methinks2]

5. Soooooooo

He said his captors then "showed me a revolting video tape with my participation and they told me it was a plan to compromise me and force me to be cooperative."

I wonder just what that tape contained? Inquiring minds would like to know.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

6. It's bullshit...

Come On! Am I supposed to believe that anyone, let alone Putin would pull such a half-arsed stunt like this? Give me a break! He is in LAST place out of seven challengers and Putin is going to risk having him do exactly what he is doing now by "kidnapping" him and making "revolting" tapes of him?

Bollocks.

Putin was KGB and could get rid of him easily if he truly wanted to. Firstly ,just take this exact story, "went to see Chechen rebel leader about a peace deal", and change the end to "and was murdered by those dastardly rebels".

However, if Putin felt threatend by this guy, he could be killed so subtly that NO-ONE would be able to prove a thing, even though his sudden death would be suspicious no matter what. Just a quick injection of an air-bubble and a suitably bribed medical examiner, and Rybkin would have had a "heart attack".

If you ask me, I would be more likely to believe that this guy was genuinely caught on tape doing something nasty, and is just trying to head off the scandal by trying to concoct a cover story.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. Good point, - just a wee bit sloppy for Putin to have orchestrated this -

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BUT

a situation "fubar" like that would fit in with the BFEE's performances ? :shrug:

OR

the guy really DID get caught with his pants down . . .

Literally !!

[CaptainClark23]

10. Agreed

Putin is an old school spook, and this stunt (if it happened at all) is amateur gangster work.

If Putin can take down Khodorkovsky, he certainly doesn't need to play this kind of op to take out a remote threat.

What interests me more is the hit on Yandarbiyev in Qatar. Does Putin have resources on the ground in Qatar to execute? If not, who does?

mm-hmm. thats right. And from the scant info I've seen, it sounds very much like the Predator Drone strikes of last year.

So, what was the payoff? Rockets ain't cheap, nor are CIA remote operators.

Sorry, no highjack of thread intended.

[Aidoneus]

11. the timing of Yandarbiev's assassination is interesting

it wasn't long ago that Russia's puppet Chechen dictator was touring the region, visting some of Russia's new OPEC friends.

[demdave]

9. What next? Bush drugs and kidnaps Kucinich to stop his juggernaut?

This guy has never gotten above 3% support in any poll I have seen. My most likely scenario..... 4 day bender and a bit of extortion by a call girl and her pimp. He got caught with his fat drunken figure in a cookie jar and now needs a plausible excuse because he doesn't want to pay up.