Grachev accuses paper of libel

Moscow - The Russian Defence Minister, Pavel Grachev, has brought a libel action against a newspaper that accused him of complicity in the murder of an investigative journalist, Dmitry Kholodov, who was blown up by a booby-trapped briefcase. The ministry said Mr Grachev had applied to file a suit against Moskovsky Komsomolets over what he described as 'a monstrous political provocation'.

Kholodov, 27, had been researching alleged links between organised crime and top officials of the Western Army Group of Russian troops in Germany. Reuter