Russian Foreign Ministry Investigates Report of Al-Jazeera

The Russian foreign ministry is presently investigating report of the Al-Jazeera TV channel regarding the death of a Russian citizen in Iraq.

In reply to the question of Russian mass media official spokesman of the foreign ministry Alexander Yakovenko stated that the report of the Al-Jazeera TV channel was presently being looked into." According to the diplomat, "all Russians working in the territory of Iraq, including southern part of the country, were timely evacuated by aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies." According to the information of the Russian foreign ministry, "presently Russian citizens are staying only in Baghdad, among them being only embassy officials and mass media representatives." At the same time the diplomat did not exclude that "certain people (for example members of families of Iraqi citizens) who were not registered in the Russian embassy might have stayed in the Iraqi territory." In conclusion Yakovenko added that "in addition to that one might surmise that citizens of the former USSR from Commonwealth of Independent States republics might be taken for Russian citizens." According to the report of the TV channel's correspondent, in total more than 50 people were killed during the air raid against the city of Basra, a Russian citizen being among them.