Moscow deports Briton over visa

MOSCOW, Russia -- A British national has been detained by the military authorities in Russia's rebel province of Chechnya.

The British embassy in Moscow said the man -- identified by Russian news agencies as 61-year-old Brian Graham -- was being deported.

A spokesman for the embassy said they had been informed on Friday of the arrest in Chechnya. Russian authorities said he was to be deported for breaking his visa conditions.

"We understood that he was to be deported, but it was also his decision to leave as soon as possible," said the spokesman, adding that Graham was now in Moscow.

"We understand that he is leaving Moscow shortly, but we don't know which flight or any details," he said.

Interfax news agency earlier quoted the commandant's office in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan, southwest of Grozny, as saying Graham had been arrested after he was found, without the correct documents, in an area where an "anti-terrorist operation" was being carried out.

Russian news agencies quoted an official from the office of Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Kremlin's chief spokesman on Chechnya, as saying that Graham's visa was only valid for Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The spokesman from the commandant's office said Graham himself had explained that he was in the area to "look into the possibilities of supplying humanitarian aid."

Interfax quoted the spokesman as adding that Graham had "already held a few meetings with locals from various regions of the republic, including those known to be supporters of rebel groups."

Interfax said the Briton had been sacked last year from a non-governmental organisation, the Danish Refugee Council, for "numerous violations of the rules governing visits to the territories on which anti-terrorist operations are conducted."

The British embassy spokesman declined to comment on whether Graham had been guilty of previous visa violations.

"We knew he was working for an NGO some months ago, but we don't know what he was doing there (in Chechnya) on this particular occasion," he added.