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'Russian who spied on Israel shot dead in Moscow'
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Moscow 

Shabtai Kalmanovitch, an Israeli immigrant from the former Soviet Union who served time in prison for spying for the KGB, was shot and killed while driving in downtown Moscow, news agencies reported on Monday.

According to the Interfax news agency, Kalmanovitch was shot while driving in his Mercedes in the Russian capital.

The report said Kalmanovitch was shot by assailants armed with semi-automatic weapons who drove by in a passing vehicle.
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Kalmanovitch's driver, Fyotor Tomnov, and another associate who was with them were also wounded in the attack, according to reports. The driver is currently hospitalized in serious condition.

The shooting is believed to be connected to a business dispute, according to reports.

Kalmanovitch is a businessman and a former agent for the Russian secret services who has been implicated in criminal activities in the past.

As a youth, he immigrated to Israel in 1972. One of his assignments as an agent was to ascertain information about Nativ, a Zionist immigration and liaison agency which was active in the former Soviet Union.

Moscow had always viewed Nativ as a front for espionage activity that fomented unrest and dissent against the Soviet regime.

Kalmanovitch tried unsuccessfully to land a position with the prime minister's bureau during Golda Meir's tenure in office. Afterwards, though, he was hired to work for former MK Samuel Flatto-Sharon.

Kalmanovitch also gained access to former finance minister Yigal Hurvitz during the latter's tenure as a member of Knesset.

Flatto-Sharon and Kalmanovitch were linked with Wolfgang Vogel, an East German lawyer and a well-known associate of officials in the Stasi. Vogel was considered an expert in negotiations which brokered swaps for prisoners of wars.

Vogel was involved in the negotiated release of an Israeli, Miron Marcus, who was taken prisoner by rebels in Mozambique after his plane was forced to land in the African country
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  1.   Gee- What A Tragedy 18:16  |  Yishai Kohen 02/11/09
  2.   Conspiracy theories could hurt israel 18:42  |  D 02/11/09
  3.   Israel will be blamed 18:54  |  Chris Linthwaite 02/11/09
  4.   Who Paid Off His Killers?? 19:01  |  Yaakov Sullivan 02/11/09
  5.   #1 - I`m sure... 19:03  |  Abraham Lincoln 02/11/09
  6.   Russian spy death 19:49  |  dee 02/11/09
  7.   no.3 Chris L 19:50  |  ZISD 02/11/09
  8.   Good Riddance 19:51  |  Cham Ben Kahan 02/11/09
  9.   What a shame 20:30  |  DAVID KAPLAN 02/11/09
  10.   To Yaakov Sullivan..and poverty in Israel 21:34  |  Mike 02/11/09
  11.   RESPECT HUMAN LIFE 21:53  |  Chasid 02/11/09
  12.   russian 21:57  |  spy-spy 02/11/09
  13.   Cham Ben Kahan 22:07  |  spy spy 02/11/09
  14.   answer to D 22:09  |  is a joke 02/11/09
  15.   Not another Gerald Bull 23:25  |  JDR 02/11/09
  16.   #7 ZISD That won`t do won`t do at all 01:05  |  Chris Linthwaite 03/11/09
  17.   A Lincoln. 02:02  |  PETER SM 03/11/09
  18.   `Russian who spied on Israel shot dead in Moscow 02:41  |  Pedro Cruz 03/11/09
  19.   Actually he was afoil diverting attention 05:14  |  I spy 03/11/09
  20.   UK should do the same in the Litvinenko affair 07:41  |  L A 03/11/09
  21.   Russian Israeli shot dead in moscow 09:07  |  interested observer 03/11/09
  22.   peter sm 17 10:46  |  potobac 03/11/09
  23.   Peter SM 14:18  |  Abraham 03/11/09
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