Putin to go ahead with Iran trip after "plot" report

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Reuters

WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin insisted on Monday he would make a historic trip to Iran to discuss its nuclear program, scotching doubts about whether a reported assassination plot would force him to cancel.

"Of course I am going to Iran," Putin told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "If you react to various threats and recommendations of the security services, then you should sit at home".

Kremlin officials had earlier said plans for Putin's visit were in doubt after a Russian news agency reported, quoting a single unnamed security source, that plotters were planning to assassinate Putin in Tehran.

Putin's visit to Iran, the first by a Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin went in 1943, has drawn intense interest because of Russia's role as a mediator in six-power talks designed to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1411390420071015?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[JNelson6563]

1. Little Boots would hide in Dead Eye Dick's bunker

after flying around the country on AF1 for a while, stopping here and there like a scared little bunny.

Oy.

Julie

[Eugene]

2. Russia's Putin emerges from Iran plot "like a hero"

Source: Reuters

Russia's Putin emerges from Iran plot "like a hero"
Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:14pm EDT

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Commentators were both amused and
intrigued at the heroic light thrown on Russian President
Vladimir Putin on Monday when he defied what he said were
security service warnings of a plot to kill him in Iran.

"I don't known if it's true or not true, but it makes him
look like a hero, if he goes there. It makes him look like
Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Steven Seagal - it's a drama,"
said veteran Russian broadcaster Sergey Dorenko told
Reuters.

Putin, who was photographed earlier this summer showing
off his muscular torso while on a hunting trip to Siberia,
confirmed he would travel to Tehran after a summit in
Germany, although Kremlin officials had said plans for his
visit were in doubt.

The flurry of speculation followed a Russian news agency
report published on Sunday, quoting a single unnamed
security source, that plotters were planning to assassinate
Putin in Tehran this week. The dramatic tale, since
confirmed by Kremlin officials, has dominated the country's
media.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1558706420071015