Turkmenistan: BBC Reporter is a Spy

I doubt there’s much to this story, maybe a story the government didn’t find very flattering, but it’s interesting:

Partial investigation report by the ministry of national security of Turkmenistan shows that some foreign diplomats and others, together with a number of local citizens, may have been engaged in several instances of spying against the country.

Minister of national security of Turkmenistan, during a meeting of the heads of the law enforcement agencies with President Niyazov, reported that proof had been found of numerous incidents where foreign nationals and diplomats including a journalist of BBC paid the local citizens for obtaining information.

The foreign citizens who have been accused of obtaining clandestine information include the Charge d’Affaires of France, an officer of OSCE Centre Ashgabat, BBC journalist Lucy Ash, and others.