ABC-tv to lose accreditation in Russia

ABC-tv, the Disney news network, has been banned in Russia and declared persona non grata for good reason.

ABC conducted an interview with a Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev and played it on Nightline.

In the interview conducted by Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky, Mr. Basayev, who has a $10-million (U.S.) bounty on his head, said he was plotting more attacks.

Among other attacks, Mr. Basayev has been linked to a 2002 hostage-taking assault on a Moscow theater that left 170 people dead, a 2003 suicide attack in the Moscow subway that killed 41 people, and a 2003 double suicide bombing at a Moscow rock concert that killed 17 people.

Basayev "who has claimed responsibility for some of Russia's most terrifying terrorist attacks, including last year's hostage seizure at the school in Beslan, which ended in the deaths of more than 330 children and adults."

The interview was conducted by Andrei Babitskii, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty staffer, who "was not on assignment for RFE/RL at the time."

From The Moscow Times:

Babitsky said he had not expected the authorities to go as far as kicking ABC out of Russia. "I suppose the anger was caused not by the actual interview, but by the fact that as a result of this interview the law enforcement and special services ended up in a ridiculous situation," he said. "Using taxpayers' money for the past six years, they are unable to catch Basayev, and yet a journalist talks to him. ... It is rather odd that journalists are made responsible for the inefficiency and professional incompetence of the law enforcement agencies."

That's the Disney news for you. Glorifying terrorists.

UPDATE: When they aren't legitimizing terrorists, ABC is not helping the fight against them either.