The Russian Foreign Ministry Has Declined To Renew ABC's News Accreditation

The Russian Foreign Ministry has declined to renew ABC's news accreditation following ABC's airing of an interview with the Chechen warlord, Shamil Basayev last Thursday.

The Russian state office, which is the same office to decide which media outlets can work in Russia, said the interview showed a "clear fact supporting the propaganda of terrorism" and that ABC would be deemed "undesirable" for contacts with all Russian state agencies.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov took the action one step further on Sunday by saying he had decided to bar military personnel from contact with the US network.

Shamil Basayev has taken responsibility for several terrorist acts including 2004's Beslan school siege and 2002's Moscow theater seizure. Basayev also has a $10 million bounty on his head.