RUSSIA's controversial new deputy security chief, appointed in the aftermath of the dismissal of Gen Alexander Lebed, holds Israeli citizenship, according to the influential Moscow newspaper Izvestiya, Seamus Martin reports.
The appointment of Mr Boris Berezovsky, an automobile and media tycoon who is understood to have been a major financial backer of President Yeltsin's election campaign, caused a political flap last week. Mr Berezovsky was accused by the former Yeltsin ally and former KGB general, Gen Alexander Korzhakov, of plotting to murder business rivals, and by Gen Lebed of wishing to continue the war in Chechnya.
His appointment has also been criticised by the Russian Communist Party, members of his own political organisation and by the reformist politician, Mr Grigory Yavlinsky.
Mr Berezovsky, chairman of LogoVaz, a large motor manufacturer and dealer in imported cars, is also a major shareholder in the ORT television channel and owns the Moscow newspaper, Nezaisimaya Gazeta.
Already an unpopular figure in Russia, the Izvestiya report will further erode his popularity in a country in which gratuitous antisemitism is rife.
The newspaper published what was purported to be a document from the Israeli foreign ministry, which said that "Boris Abramovich Berezovsky, born in 1946, is a citizen of Israel and possesses an [Israeli] identification certificate".
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