International
Fradkov appointed Russia's spymaster

Moscow, (PTI): Former Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Fradkov, has been appointed Director of Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) by President Vladimir Putin.

Fradkov, who was dismissed from the top Cabinet job last month, will succeed General Sergei Lebedev, who was last week-end appointed Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at its summit in Tajik capital, Dushanbe, according to the Kremlin press office.

Fradkov, who most of his life was linked to Soviet foreign trade and economic activities, is reported to have undergone special training in a KGB school prior to his first foreign posting in Soviet embassy in New Delhi in 1973-75.

The Kommersant daily noted that all the organisations headed by Fradkov in the past, including the Federal Tax Service under Putin, were abolished, and his appointment to SVR, could result in its re-merger with KGB-successor FSB under one roof.

International

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