Lietuva in brief - 2004-05-13

The Lithuanian Air Force dispatched an An-26 cargo plane from Zokniai Airport near Siauliai on May 9 to retrieve 26 Lithuanian tourists injured in a bus accident in Croatia. The tourists, who were faculty members at Siauliai University, were returning to Zagreb from the resort city of Split when their bus careened off the highway due to rainy conditions.

Lietuvos rytas reported that Anzor Aksentyev-Kikalishvili, a Russian businessman with alleged ties to organized crime, is planning to appeal a migration department ruling that declared him persona non grata in Lithuania. Recordings made by the State Security Department revealed Kikalishvili, who is also unable to travel to the United States, threatening former department director Mecys Laurinkus.

The French government has issued an international arrest warrant for Lithuanian champion cyclist Raimondas Rumsas. The daily Le Monde quoted Franck Guedeson, a French judge who recently lost the slander suit Rumsas brought against him, allege that the cyclist was involved in an international steroid smuggling operation with Polish doctors.

A group from the Lithuanian Extreme Diving Club claimed to have discovered a sunken submarine in the Baltic Sea off the coast of the Curonian Spit. Scientists believe that the vessel, which would be the first submarine discovered in Lithuanian territorial waters, could be the remains of a German military training ship that sank during World War II.