usmanov and arsenal

Alisher usmanov,the russian billionaire is in the thick of storm these days due to his frantic and ofcourse criminal interest in arsenal...

let me examine this alisher usmanov..

here are the facts(thanks to wikipedia)

according to the 2007 edition of Forbes magazine, the Uzbek-born oligarch is Russia's 18th richest man, with a fortune estimated at US$5.5 billion (£2.696bn), and the world's joint-142nd richest person.[1] He has accrued his wealth from mining, lumber and investment.[2] Usmanov is married with two children[2] and is a graduate of Moscow's elite state university. He is the majority shareholder of Metalloinvest, a Russian industrial conglomerate. He is known in business circles as "the hard criminal of Russia".[3] He spent six years in jail during the 1980s for various crimes committed in the USSR.[4]

Business profile

Usmanov owns diverse interests including stakes in precious metals, iron ore, steel, natural gas and media companies.

Legal action over criminal conviction and pardon

On 2 September 2007, Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, referred to Alisher Usmanov's conviction for various crimes – of fraud, corruption and theft of state property – in the former USSR, for which he had been jailed for six years during the 1980s, as well as making further allegations of criminal activity.[4] Usmanov's lawyers claim he was a political prisoner pardoned under Mikhail Gorbachev's administration,[4] though Murray claims the pardon was actually the work of Uzbek President Islom Karimov on the instructions of Uzbek power broker and alleged drug trafficker Gafur Rakhimov. [18] In Murray's words: "He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail."[19] The article was subsequently removed by Murray's web host under pressure from Usmanov's legal team, Schillings Solicitors, defamation specialists who act for Naomi Campbell, Jonathan Ross, Keira Knightley amongst others and [19] who also contacted independent Arsenal blogs and websites warning them to remove any references to Murray's allegations, and any reproduction of Craig Murray's weblog posting.[4]

The move to remove Murray's posting led to other blogs reproducing the article. On 20 September 2007, Bloggerheads.com, the weblog of Tim Ireland was taken down for reproducing Murray's article. The removal of the host server also caused the loss of other blogs belonging to the MP Boris Johnson, councillor Bob Piper[20][20] and Clive Summerfield – none of which themselves had reproduced the article. However, this move by Usmanov to suppress discussion of his past has only served to unify various blogs against him.

On 25 September 2007 Clive Summerfield and Councillor Bob Piper were interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live about the controversy. [21]

UK Indymedia reported that they were one of the sites that had been issued with a take down notice on the 10 September 2007 and again on 21 September [22]. Although the article in question has been temporarily hidden, a number of others have been prominently linked to.

so i am risking ban to write something more about this red devil..well first i did some research using some contacts in russia..this is what a friend told me about him-

usmanov is one of the mafia businessmen who continue to haunt russia..his importance is that he showed his true colour even during the communist rule..he rose to prominence again after the disintegration of ussr making his miney out of drugs,arms trade,black markets and all sorts of things..like any other russian tyccoon he is trying to bring himself some respectability by buying arsenal,or any other club...

now let us get to his psychology...he has proven again and again that he is a ruthless money monger...by any indication of this he is a strong candidate to take over arsenal...but will the sane but rather worthless british arsenal lovers allow it..

let us wait and watch..

and more on thios topic after my further research on the tyccooon...