The Moscow correspondent of the British newspaper The Guardian has been expelled from Russia, the paper said.
Moscow-based Luke Harding attempted to return to the Russian capital on the weekend after working in London on the Guardian's reporting of the WikiLeaks cables, DPA reported.
He was denied entry despite holding a valid visa, and was detained by immigration police for 45 minutes before being put on a plane back to Britain.
Harding was not given a specific reason for the decision, but said he was told by an intelligence official that Russia was "closed" to him.
According to the paper, it was the first time a British staff journalist has been expelled from Russia since the Cold War.
Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov did not give an explanation to his British counterpart, William Hague, the Guardian said.
"This is clearly a very troubling development with serious implications for press freedom," said Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian editor-in-chief. "It is worrying that the Russian government should now kick out reporters of whom they disapprove," he said.
The paper said it believed the expulsion must have been ordered "at a very senior level."
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