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Russian Critic of Putin is Poisoned in London
Leading Russian critic of Putin's regime
is poisoned in London telegraph.co By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter and James Glover, Sunday Telegraph 19/11/2006 Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into an audacious attempt to murder – using a deadly poison – a leading Russian defector at a restaurant in London. Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian secret service and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was seriously ill under armed guard at a London hospital last night. Mr Litvinenko, 50, who used to work for the Federal Security Bureau (FSB, the former KGB), fell ill after meeting a contact at Itsu, a sushi restaurant in Piccadilly. The woman journalist claimed to have information on the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, 48, the outspoken journalist who was killed at her Moscow apartment last month. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap.../npoison19.jpg Alexander Litvinenko defected to Britain six years ago A close friend of Mr Litvinenko said last night: "Alexander has no doubt that he was poisoned at the instigation of the Russian government." He has been living at a secret address in London with his wife and son because he feared he might be targeted by political opponents. Mr Litvinenko is thought to have been poisoned with thallium, a colourless and odourless liquid that is often used to kill rats. It has been used in previous murder attempts of political opponents. Sources close to the investigation said last night that the poison has attacked Mr Litvinenko's central nervous system and there are fears that he will never make a full recovery. His condition was described last night as "serious but stable". The crime invoked memories of the murder of Georgi Markov, 49, the prize-winning Bulgarian author and broadcaster, who was poisoned as he waited with commuters on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. Mr Markov felt a pain in his thigh and three days later he was dead: the murder weapon was an umbrella, partly developed by the KGB, which fired a pellet the size of a pinhead, containing the poison ricin. Mr Litvinenko defected to Britain six years ago but only became a British citizen last month. He is regarded as a traitor in his native Russia and friends suspect the FSB of trying to murder him. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap...npoison19b.jpg Mr Litvinenko arranged to meet a woman journalist at Itsu in Piccadiily He went to meet the woman journalist at Itsu on November 1 after she claimed to have information about the shooting of Miss Politkovskaya, also a fierce critic of President Putin. The next day, Mr Litvinenko complained of feeling unwell and was admitted to hospital. It was thought he had nothing more than a serious stomach upset but in recent days his condition has deteriorated. Friends say the journalist may have been a genuine contact but that political opponents may have discovered the venue for their meeting and slipped the poison into his meal or drink. Tatiane Assis, the manager of Itsu, said that two detectives visited the restaurant yesterday. "They asked if we had CCTV. We said we didn't and they left without explaining why they had called." There is no suggestion that the restaurant, or its staff, had anything to do with the poisoning. © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2006 |
'My Meal With Poison Spy'
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1471173.jpg Professor Mario Scaramella news.sky.com November 21, 2006 The mystery Italian contact of poisoned former spy Alexander Litvinenko has come out of hiding to give his version of events at the London sushi bar. Professor Mario Scaramella, 38, who describes himself as a defence consultant, was surrounded by four bodyguards as he arrived for the Rome conference. Journalists had been summoned by SMS texts. Prof Scaramella revealed how he had not eaten at the sushi bar and how Mr Litvinenko helped himself to fish from a buffet and was brought soup by a waiter - while he had only water to drink. He stressed he had nothing to do with the poisoning and blamed at the Russian secret services. Professor Scaramella said the original arrangements for the meeting had been by email and it was arranged that they would meet on November 1 in central London. "I was in London to meet Mr Litvinenko because I wanted to discuss with him some alarming news. The information I had received was very disturbing and contained details of plots against Russians both in Italy and Great Britain. "I called him and we arranged to meet as we always do in Piccadilly Circus. I have met him several times. He is a very good source of mine and has contacts in Russia. "I was with him for maybe 30-45 minutes. We were downstairs and there were no other people there. "I had already had lunch so I had nothing to eat - and had a glass of water. "Mr Litvinenko had some fish from a buffet and some soup was brought to us. He personally took his food from the buffet. I paid for the bill, as I recall it was about £17." Professor Scaramella added: "I told him that I had received some very worrying and disturbing information. I had been given a list of names and lots of facts from a contact. "The information was a list of people - it was a hit list and on that list was his name, my name and Paolo Guzzanti (head of the Italian commission investigating KGB activities in Italy). "It was unbelievable and there were also names of people in Britain on it. I asked him to make a call to his people in Russia to evaluate it. "Mr Litvinenko told me not to worry about it. The arrangement was that I would call him later that night or the following morning. "When I called him back the next morning his wife said that he was very sick but she laughed it off saying half of London was ill." Professor Scaramella also described how Mr Litvinkeno had mentioned he had been at a meeting beforehand. The Italian explained: "He said to me that he was in London to see some people in the morning and that he would be free to see me in the afternoon. "When he arrived he did not mention who he met but I understand the authorities are investigating the possibility he was poisoned at this meeting. "The information I received was in two emails and I passed that information the British authorities to the intelligence services and the police through diplomatic channels. "The information was disturbingly serious and these people are very dangerous. I was warned to be very careful as these people are well organised. "The information regarded plots to do something both in Italy and Great Britain. There were several Russian people in Britain on that list as well as Litvinenko, Mr Guzzanti and myself." He refused to elaborate on where the list had come from other than to say it came "from someone who lives out of Russia." When asked if he was scared and what steps he had taken to increase his own personal security Professor Scaramella said: "I don't want to answer that question. These people are very dangerous. We are talking about people involved in the murder of (Russian journalist) Anna Politkovskaya." He also described how there was a strong connection between the Russian Mafia and the former KGB as well as their replacement intelligence service the FSB and SVR. Professor Scaramella also revealed how Mr Litvinenko had provided information which led to the arrest of six Ukranians who were smuggling arms between Russia and Italy for an attempted hit. He added: "About a year ago Litvinenko contacted me to say he had details about arms being smuggled to Italy. "With that information I contacted the Italian intelligence services and he also spoke to them. It led to the arrest of six Ukranians near Teramo who were found with arms. "They had hidden powerful grenades - strong enough to take out a tank or an armoured car - inside two hollowed out Bibles. "The information was that these grenades were intended for a hitman from the former Eastern bloc who was living in the Naples area." When asked directly what he thought of the attempt on Mr Litvinenko's life Professor Scaramella said: "It was a political assassination." © 2006 BSkyB |
Thallium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium Thallium (IPA: /ˈθaliəm/) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Tl and atomic number 81.[1] This soft gray malleable poor metal resembles tin but discolors when exposed to air. Thallium is highly toxic and is used in rat poisons and insecticides but since it might also cause cancer (although the EPA does not class it as carcinogen), this use has been cut back or eliminated in many countries. It is also used in infrared detectors. It has even been used in some murders, earning the nicknames "The Poisoner's Poison" and "Inheritance powder" (alongside arsenic). Toxicity http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sbones.svg.png Thallium and its compounds are highly toxic and should be handled with great care. Contact with skin is dangerous and adequate ventilation should be provided when melting this metal. Thallium(I) compounds have a high aqueous solubility and are readily absorbed through the skin. Exposure to them should not exceed 0.1 mg per m² of skin in an 8-hour time-weighted average (40-hour work week). Thallium is a suspected human carcinogen. Part of the reason for thallium's high toxicity is that, when present in aqueous solution as the univalent thallium(I) ion (Tl+), it exhibits some similarities with essential alkali metal cations, particularly potassium. It can thus enter the body via potassium uptake pathways. However other aspects of thallium's chemistry are very different from that of the alkali metals (e.g. its high affinity for sulfur ligands), and so this substitution disrupts many cellular processes (for instance thallium may attack sulphur-containing proteins such as cysteine residues and ferredoxins). Thallium's toxicity has led to its use (now discontinued in many countries) as a rat and ant poison. Amongst the distinctive effects of thallium poisoning are loss of hair (which ironically led it to its initial use as a depilatory, before its toxicity was properly appreciated), and damage to peripheral nerves (victims may experience a sensation of walking on hot coals). Thallium was once an effective murder weapon before its effects became understood and an antidote (prussian blue) discovered. Famous uses as a poison
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Slow-acting killer that was Saddam's
favourite instrument of vengeance timesonline.co.uk Mark Henderson, Science Editor November 20, 2006 http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gifRead how the Times covered the London assassination of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in 1978 On New Year’s Day in 1988, Abdullah Ali, an Iraqi businessman who had been living in London for eight years, joined three compatriots for dinner at a restaurant called Cleopatra in Notting Hill. The next morning, he was taken ill with flu-like symptoms and was admitted to hospital. There his condition rapidly deteriorated — his hair fell out, he developed excruciating skin and joint pain, and paralysis and respiratory failure began to set in. Fifteen days later he was dead — but not before he had begun to wonder whether something had been added to his vodka. He was right: the Westminster Coroner recorded the cause of his death as bronchiopneumonia due to thallium poisoning. Abdullah Ali is thought to have been a victim of Saddam Hussein’s secret service, which used thallium sulphate as its poison of choice. Detectives believe he was an undercover agent who became disillusioned and was murdered before he could defect. Hundreds of Iraqi dissidents met their end in similar fashion. Thallium’s slow action enabled the poisoners to adopt a particularly sinister tactic: dissidents would be released from prison, and even allowed to emigrate, but not before their food or drink had been laced with a fatal dose. Sometimes, it was administered during a “reconciliatory” drink with the prisoner’s former guards. In his recent book, The Elements of Murder, the chemist John Emsley recounts the case of Majidi Jehad, who was given orange juice at a Baghdad police station while collecting the passport he needed to travel to Britain. He died of thallium poisoning when he arrived at his destination. Salwa Bahrani, a Shia activist, was killed with yoghurt that had been laced with thallium. In 1992 two army officers, Abdallah Abdellatif and Abdel al-Masdiwi, escaped to Damascus where they fell ill. They were flown to Britain, where they were treated successfully. France also used the poison to kill a guerrilla leader in Cameroon in 1960, and the United States is suspected of using thallium in one of its many attempts to kill President Castro of Cuba. Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA chemist, conceived a plan to poison the Cuban leader by putting thallium powder in his shoes. This method would have caused his hair to fall out, robbing him of his iconic beard, as it destroys hair follicles. Thallium was used medically and cosmetically before its lethal effects became known. Though the fatal dose for an adult is 800 milligrams, or less than a quarter of a teaspoonful, 500 milligrams would be prescribed to treat ringworm. Thallium depilatory creams were popular in the 1930s. Thallium is a metal that is usually administered as a poison in the form of one of its salts, typically thallium sulphate. Its toxicity derives mainly from the fact that charged thallium atoms are almost exactly the same size as potassium ions, which are critical to many bodily functions. It essentially mimics the action of potassium, replacing working ions with inert ones that cripple the nervous system. Early symptoms are similar to flu and gastroenteritis. This is followed by extreme band-like pain around the body, particularly in the feet and joints. The cause of death is usually heart or respiratory failure, as the nervous system collapses. It is an attractive tool for murder because it is soluble in water, colourless and virtually tasteless and odourless. A fatal dose can also be given in one go and the body is not good at excreting the toxin by itself. The most effective antidote is potassium ferric ferrocyanide, a chemical better known as the dye Prussian blue. The toxin has also been used by many murderers, of whom the best known was Graham Young, “the St Albans Poisoner”. In 1962 Young, then 15, used a selection of poisons to kill his stepmother and attempt to kill other members of his family. He was committed to Broadmoor but released in 1971 and found a job in a photographic studio in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire. Soon afterwards, his foreman, Bob Egle, 59, fell ill and died. Another colleague, Fred Biggs, 60, then died with similar symptoms, and other became unwell. Young was arrested after asking the company doctor whether he had considered thallium poisoning as a possible cause of the mystery illness. Thallium was found at his flat, along with a diary in which he had noted the doses given to his workmates, together with their effects. He was given four life sentences in 1972. Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd. |
Poisoned Russian Ex - Spy Deteriorates: Hospital
nytimes.com/reuters By REUTERS November 23, 2006 Filed at 8:36 a.m. ET LONDON (Reuters) - Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko -- poisoned in London three weeks ago -- has taken a sudden turn for the worse and is now very seriously ill, the hospital treating him said on Thursday. "There has been a major deterioration in Mr Litvinenko's condition overnight. He is now in a very serious condition and remains in intensive care,'' London's University College Hospital said. Doctors have now ruled out poisoning by a heavy metal such as thallium or by radiation, said Dr Geoff Bellingan, clinical director of critical care at the hospital. The 41-year-old critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he fell ill after meeting two Russians at a hotel. Britain's anti-terrorism police were called in to investigate the case after doctors determined last week his illness was caused by poison. Litvinenko's friends accuse the Kremlin of orchestrating a plot to poison him, but Russia has dismissed the allegation as ''nonsense.'' If Moscow were found to have had a hand in his poisoning there could be far-reaching diplomatic consequences. It would be the first such incident known to have taken place in the West since the Cold War. Alexander Goldfarb, a friend of the London-based former agent, told the BBC that Litvinenko was on life support. "He is heavily sedated and he is on a ventilator because overnight he went into a heart failure ... although the doctor who spoke to his wife and to me said his heart is not damaged. It is beating normally,'' he said. Bellingan told reporters shadows seen on Litvinenko's x-rays were believed to be caused by a chemical given as part of his treatment, not by poison, and therefore did not offer clues as to how he fell ill. Litvinenko, now a British citizen, co-authored a book in 2002 entitled "Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within,'' in which he alleged Federal Security Service (FSB) agents coordinated apartment block bombings in Russia that killed more than 300 people in 1999. Officials blamed the bombings on Chechen rebels. He had been investigating the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, also a vocal critic of Putin, who was gunned down at her Moscow flat on October 7. Copyright 2006 Reuters Ltd. |
'The bastards got me, they won't get us all'
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/pic...,367664,00.jpg Poisoned spy defiant in final interview before his death timesonline.co.uk Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor November 24, 2006 Audio: my friend Alexander, by Andrei Nekrasov http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gif The poisoned Russian spy breathed defiance at the Kremlin as the effects of a mystery cocktail pushed him towards his death last night. “I want to survive, just to show them,” Alexander Litvinenko said in an exclusive interview given just hours before he died. Too weak to move his limbs and visibly in great pain, the former Russian intelligence officer suggested that he knew he may not win his struggle against the lethal chemicals destroying his vital organs. But he said the campaign for truth would go on with or without him. “The bastards got me,” he whispered. “But they won’t get everybody.” Mr Litvinenko, 43, uttered his last defiant words to Andrei Nekrasov, a friend and film-maker, who had visited him in University College Hospital in London every day this week. Last night Mr Nekrasov described the extraordinary scenes in hospital, where one ward looks like a scene from The Godfather. “Sasha was a good-looking, physically strong and courageous man,” Mr Nekrasov told The Times. “But the figure who greeted me looked like a survivor from the Nazi concentration camps.” Moments after he saw his friend pass away, Mr Nekrasov said: “I have been through a few things in Russia and Chechnya, but this is one of the most horrible crimes I have witnessed in my my life.” “It was sadistic, slow murder. It was perpetrated by somebody incredibly cruel, incredibly heartless. It had no meaning whatsover.” Although Mr Nekrasov had seen Mr Litvinenko sometimes more than once a day, Tuesday was the last occasion on which his friend could communicate properly. Yet in his final remarks, the former spy remained defiant in his battle against President Putin and the Russian security services. He also managed a joke at his own expense, suggesting that his poisoning was proof that his campaign against the Kremlin had targeted the right people. “This is what it takes to prove one has been telling the truth,” he said. He was referring to allegations he made in a book, The FSB Blows up Russia, which accuses the Russian security services of causing a series of apartment block explosions in Moscow in 1999 that helped to propel Mr Putin into the presidency. Last night in Moscow, Andrei Lugovoi, the former Kremlin bodyguard who has been accused of carrying out the poisoning, told The Times that he was not involved and that he was prepared to travel to London to prove his innocence. Doctors remained baffled about what Mr Litvinenko ingested on November 1, at one of two meetings with Russian contacts. Geoff Bellingan, director of critical care at University College Hospital, said that doctors were now convinced that the cause was not a heavy metal such as thallium, as originally suspected. Nor had he swallowed any mystery objects. “Radiation poisoning is also unlikely,” he said. NI_MPU('middle');Andrea Sella, a chemistry expert at University College, said that it had become increasingly difficult to identify the poison. “They have to find some unspecified poison. They don’t know whether it is a single substance or a mixture.” Mr Nekrasov revealed that Mr Litvinenko’s British citizenship had come through on the day of a service at Westminster Abbey for Anna Politkovskaya, a friend and critic of the Kremlin murdered in Moscow. “We discussed the likelihood of another killing. Sasha warned me not to go back to Russia because it was too dangerous,” Mr Nekrasov said. “Very sadly he turned out to be the next victim, attacked in the perceived safety of Central London.” Last night, Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB agent who defected to Britain, told Sky News: “It’s very sad news because he was a hero to Russia and a hero to Great Britain. He loved Britain as much as he loved Russia.” An aide to Mr Putin said: “Of course it’s a human tragedy. A person was poisoned. But the accusations against the Kremiln are so incredible, so silly, that the President cannot comment.” Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd. |
POLONIUM 210 FOUND IN BODY
OF FORMER RUSSIAN SPY Breaking News Radioactive Material Link http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1471979.jpg Poisoned: Alexander Litvinenko sky.com/skynews Updated: 15:26 Friday November 24, 2006 A radioactive material, probably Polonium 210, has been found in the body of dead ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, it has been revealed. Polonium 210 is only dangerous if ingested and a large quantity of alpha radiation was detected in his urine, said Government experts. They added that physical contact with him would have caused no risk to others. The development came as Home Secretary John Reid revealed the police were searching for residual radioactive material at a number of locations. http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1472877.jpg Russian's home searched They include Mr Litvinenko's house in north London and reportedly the sushi restaurant in London where he met an Italian contact shortly before he fell seriously ill. Police want to find out who killed the 43-year-old former security agent. Before he died in a London hospital on Thursday night, Mr Litvinenko wrote a statement which blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering his murder. Friends said the statement was penned on Tuesday, when Mr Litvinenko realised he was dying. He accused the Russian leader of having "no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value". http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1472784.jpg The distraught father He told Mr Putin: "You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women." The Russian President said the death was a tragedy, but he had not seen any definitive proof that it was a "violent death". He also brushed off suggestions linking him to the case. Mr Litvinenko's tearful father Walter said: "This (Russian) regime is a mortal danger to the world." He added: "It was an excruciating death, he was taking it as a real man. Even before his death, in such a state he never lost his human dignity." Mr Litvinenko's supporters said he was killed because he was investigating the murder last month of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Like Mr Litvinenko himself, she was a fierce critic of Mr Putin but the Kremlin said the accusation was "sheer nonsense". © 2006 BSkyB |
Polonium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium Polonium (IPA: /pə(ʊ)ˈləʊniəm/) is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Po and atomic number 84. A rare radioactive metalloid, polonium is chemically similar to tellurium and bismuth and occurs in uranium ores. Polonium had been studied for possible use in heating spacecraft. Polonium-210 This isotope of polonium is an alpha emitter that has a half-life of 138.39 days. A milligram of polonium-210 emits as many alpha particles as 5 grams of radium. A great deal of energy is released by its decay with a half a gram quickly reaching a temperature above 750 K. A few curies (gigabecquerels) of polonium-210 emit a blue glow which is caused by excitation of surrounding air. A single gram of polonium-210 generates 140 watts of heat energy. Since nearly all alpha radiation can be easily stopped by ordinary containers and upon hitting its surface releases its energy, polonium-210 has been used as a lightweight heat source to power thermoelectric cells in artificial satellites. A polonium-210 heat source was also used in each of the Lunokhod rovers deployed on the surface of the Moon, to keep their internal components warm during the lunar nights. Precautions Polonium is a highly radioactive and toxic element and is dangerous to handle. Even in milligram or microgram amounts, handling polonium-210 is very dangerous and requires special equipment used with strict procedures. Direct damage occurs from energy absorption into tissues from alpha particles. The maximum allowable body burden for ingested polonium is only 1100 becquerels (0.03 microcurie), which is equivalent to a particle weighing only 6.8 × 10-12 gram. Weight for weight polonium is approximately 2.5 × 1011 times as toxic as hydrocyanic acid. The maximum permissible concentration for airborne soluble polonium compounds is about 7,500 Bq/m3 (2 × 10-11 µCi/cm3). |
Spy poison case detectives to fly to Moscow
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap...nspoison26.jpg The sushi restaurant was sealed off after radiation was detected telegraph.co.uk By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter and Colin Freeman in Moscow, Sunday Telegraph 26/11/2006 Detectives will fly to Moscow and Rome this week in an attempt to unravel the mysterious radioactive poisoning in London of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian defector. Senior security sources in Britain suspect that Russian agents — possibly a rogue unit — were behind the sophisticated nuclear weapons element used to commit the murder. Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command wants to question two Russians and an Italian professor who lunched with Mr Litvinenko at the same Japanese restaurant in central London, just two weeks apart. Last night the professor said he feared for his life. Detectives have pinpointed Itsu, a sushi restaurant in Piccadilly, as the most likely place that the former KGB colonel was poisoned with polonium 210, a radioactive metal used to trigger nuclear weapons. The restaurant was sealed off yesterday after radiation was detected in several places. Itsu was a regular haunt of Mr Litvinenko, one of the fiercest critics of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Mr Litvinenko, 44, died on Thursday night with his family at his bedside. It was known that he had met a contact — an Italian defence consultant called Professor Mario Scaramella — at Itsu on November 1. The Italian had information on the death of Anna Politkovskaya, 48, the Russian investigative journalist murdered last month. Detectives also learnt that Mr Litvinenko went on from his lunch with Professor Scaramella to see two Russians, Andrei Lugovoy and Dimitri Kovtun, at the nearby Millennium Hotel, at 4pm. The hotel has also been sealed off after further traces of radiation were found. Itsu was also the venue for a lunch the Russian defector had two weeks earlier, on October 16, with the two Russians. The men had a further meeting with Mr Litvinenko, this time at a restaurant in Chinatown, a day later, to discuss a "business deal". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap...npoison26c.jpg Professor Scaramella: 'I am now in fear of my life' Scotland Yard officers will fly to Moscow, possibly as early as Tuesday, to interview Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun, who have said they will co-operate with the investigation. Detectives will also travel to Rome to see Professor Scaramella. The Italian defence consultant is expected to tell officers that he was with the murder victim for some 45 minutes. He apparently saw Mr Litvinenko help himself to fish from a buffet and have soup brought by a waiter. Last night, Prof Scaramella said: "Litvinenko did not die from a stomach ache. He was killed because of what he knew. There is no doubt that the Kremlin killed Litvinenko. I am now in fear of my life." Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina, also 44, his 12-year-old son Anatoly, and father Walter all face a troubling 48 hours until they learn whether their bodies have been contaminated with polonium 210 as a result of contact with their dying relative. Friends believe that Mr Litvinenko was killed by the Federal Security Bureau, the successor to the KGB. They suspect Mr Putin of ordering his death, but others consider rogue elements in the bureau were responsible using the sophisticated poison which is difficult to make and obtain. Cobra, the Government emergency planning committee, met yesterday to discuss the crisis which could tarnish relations with Russia. Scotland Yard has drafted in the Atomic Weapons Establishment to help with the investigation. © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2006. |
Theories abound in poison plot
Paul Lewis Monday November 27, 2006 The Guardian Three days after the death of Alexander Litvinenko, there are no known suspects and police refuse to describe their investigation as a murder hunt. But a bewildering array of theories has been thrown up about who may have had a hand in his poisoning. According to the News of the World, the "hitman at the centre" of the murder might be "Igor The Poisoner", a Russian judo master who speaks perfect English. But close analysis shows the newspaper does not implicate "Igor" as the killer. He is actually the same man identified by the Guardian on Saturday, described in an email as the organiser of a possible plot against Litvinenko's Italian contact. The man - Agent Y - is described in the email as being a member of Spetnaz, the Russian special forces, and "the perfect coordinator of any kind of 'special operation'". The Mail on Sunday chose to concentrate its attention on Mario Scaramella, the Italian professor who met Litvinenko at the sushi bar. Although Prof Scaramella was on the hitlist himself, and offered to speak to police, the paper spoke of his expertise in nuclear materials. The Sunday Times introduced a new character: a possible ex-employee of the Russian embassy. It said Litvinenko named the agent in charge of monitoring him as "Viktor Kirov" and also mentioned an Anatoly V Kirov who recently worked at the embassy. The Russian foreign ministry denied any involvement. The Independent on Sunday considers a theory still not discounted by police: that Litvinenko might have orchestrated his death to harm Vladimir Putin. FAQ -- Lines of inquiry Sandra Laville and Ian Sample What will the police do next? It is likely that anti-terrorist officers will fly to Moscow to interview the two men who met Mr Litvinenko at the Millennium hotel, Andrei Lugovoi and Dimitri Kovtoun. They are also likely to visit Italy to speak to Mario Scaramella, who met Mr Litvinenko in the sushi bar and handed over a document which purports to identify both himself and Mr Litvinenko as targets on an FSB hitlist. When will a postmortem take place?Investigators have not set a date because of fears of radiation contamination. Police are taking advice from the Health Protection Agency and nuclear experts. Will there be an inquest?It is unlikely a full inquest will be held while the police inquiry is taking place. If anyone is tried, an inquest will be deemed unnecessary once the details of the death have been examined in a criminal court. Mr Litvinenko's family could, however, press for an inquest even if criminal charges were brought. What are the main lines of inquiry?The security services will focus on where the polonium 210 came from. If it was made in a nuclear facility, it will contain traces of other radioactive isotopes that could identify the facility.Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 |
Litvinenko affair divides Russian press
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...sspress203.jpg bbc.co.uk November 25, 2006 The death in London of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko gives the Russian press much to think about. Some view the resultant furore in the West as an attempt to put pressure on Moscow; others see the death as an implicit warning to other defectors of the 'long hand of the Kremlin'. Andrey Baranov in KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA Revulsion is the feeling one is left with given the hullabaloo in the West to do with Alexander Litvinenko's illness and death. The man's body has been turned into a virtual battering ram with which Russia's standing is being pounded for all it is worth. Alvina Kharchenko et al in KOMMERSANT Western experts have been unanimous that Mr Litvinenko's death will affect Russia's image... But not all Western analysts think that the ex-colonel in the FSB was thus made to pay for his criticism of the Russian regime... The idea of a plot against Vladimir Putin was also supported yesterday by the Russian Federation president's aide, Sergey Yastrzhembskiy... indeed, almost all of the Russian president's recent visits to the West have been overshadowed by the reports of high-profile deaths. Aleksandr Kots in KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA The potential list of those who stood to benefit from Litvinenko's death is a long one. One thing is certain, however: a scandal such as this was not in the interests of the Russian authorities in the run-up to the signing of a new agreement with the EU. It is now being used to put pressure on the Kremlin... if the truth is ever learnt, however, it will be only once the hoo-ha dies down. Vladimir Voronin in NOVOYE VREMYA For the authorities, the physical elimination of dissenters and troublemakers is becoming the main means by which to resolve their problems... It could be that it was because he [Litvinenko] gathered information about those who killed [journalist] Anna Politkovskaya or trod on someone else's toes. Or it was generally decided to make it clear to all our enemies and defectors, whether real or potential, that retribution is inescapable, that 'ours are long hands' that will reach you even in London. Former economics minister Yevgeniy Yasin in KOMMERSANT I do not see it as a plan of some sort to discredit Russia. Because we have gone back on democratic reform, our image is at an all-time low, so much so that there is no need to think up anything else. Timofey Borisov in ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA As one of the theories, the elimination of a traitor by the Russian special services is, of course, a possibility. It is, however, greatly flawed and could prove altogether untrue... the theory that Litvinenko was poisoned by his former colleagues is logical and uncomplicated. It also looks good. But that is precisely where its vulnerability lies. What kind of secret operation by the special services is it, about which a journalist learns with such ease? Yuliya Latynina on GRANI.RU website It is a catastrophe. I think that it is one of those turning points as regards Russia's image in the world, which is plummeting as it is. It is very difficult to talk to a country which poisons political opponents with thallium or something else... Russia is becoming a different country. Whereas previously it was a quasi-democratic state, we are now quickly turning into [President] Lukashenko's Belarus, where people disappear. BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad. © BBC MMVI |
So...... Do we still hate them?
But, as for the Polonium... This stuff is not easy to aquire. Toxins like Thallium do not require any sort of nuclear facility to produce, but Polonium, with a halflife of only a few months, would have to be generated in order to be used effectively. You need it "fresh" to be effective. These guys are professional, and they have connections. But who those connections are, and how close they are to the current government is anyone's guess. They may be the black hand of the President, or they might be a rogue agency out to "clear the air". I hope we find out more before more people die by their hand unnecessarily. |
The only reason to use a radioactive poison is to make sure it's found and makes news. The classic question - who benefits? does not seem like Putin.
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Moscow points the finger of blame at
billionaire exile Boris Berezovsky timesonline.co.uk Tony Halpin in Moscow, Richard Beeston and Daniel McGrory November 29, 2006 Comment Central: Russian journalist points finger at Putin over Litvinenko death
Senior figures in the Russian establishment lined up to implicate Mr Berezovsky, who employed and funded the former KGB spy. The billionaire, who has been granted asylum in Britain, last night issued a statement mourning Mr Litvinenko’s death and saying that he had “complete faith” that Scotland Yard would conduct a “thorough and professional investigation”. Detectives are understood to want to question Mr Berezovsky in further detail about the events of November 1, the day that Mr Litvinenko fell ill. Mr Berezovsky has declined to explain publicly why Mr Litvinenko, who was recently given British citizenship, visited his headquarters in Mayfair that day. The billionaire has accused President Putin’s regime of being behind the murder. In his first comment on the Litvinenko affair Tony Blair yesterday insisted that no “diplomatic or political barrier” would be permitted to obstruct the police inquiry, even if the evidence pointed to a statesponsored killing. The Prime Minister, who was on a brief stopover in Copenhagen on his way to the Nato summit in Riga, said that Mr Litvinenko’s death was being treated as a “very, very serious matter”. He added: “We are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible.” The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office declared that it was ready to assist the British police. A spokesman said that British detectives would be welcome to come to Moscow and would receive the Government’s full co-operation. Mr Blair has been kept informed of developments in the inquiry, but he is not scheduled to meet President Putin in Riga. So far the Prime Minister has not spoken to Mr Putin about the case, but will do so when the time is “appropriate”. Mr Putin has strenuously denied that the Russian authorities had anything to do with Mr Litvinenko’s death. Police have questioned Mario Scaramella, an Italian nuclear expert who met Mr Litvinenko at a sushi bar in Piccadilly, where evidence of the radioactive poison was found. So far polonium-210 has been found at seven locations across London. At one of those sites — 25 Grosvenor Street, the offices of Erinys, an international security company — a spokesman said that Mr Litvinenko did not work for them but had been visiting a friend there. As Kremlin sources made their claims against Mr Berezovsky, a number of prominent politicians in Moscow named him publicly as a key figure in the affair. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Duma’s foreign affairs committee, said that Mr Litvinenko was linked with “certain oligarchs, including Mr Berezovsky, who in recent years have been deprived of the chance to buy corrupt power with stolen money, and apparently cannot accept this”. In the past Russia has tried to extradite him on financial charges but the request was refused by Britain after Mr Berezovsky argued that the charge was politically motivated. Valery Dyatlenko, a deputy head of the security committee in the Duma, Russia’s lower house, told state television: “The death of Litvinenko — for Russia, for the security services — means nothing . . . I think this is another game of some kind by Berezovsky.” Toxicologists tested for the presence of polonium-210 at more locations in Central London that had been visited by Mr Litvinenko on the day he fell ill. Eight people have been sent for further tests at a specialist clinic by the Health Protection Agency to check for contamination. The agency has received more than 1,100 calls from members of the public worried that they might have been exposed to radiation, but officials insisted that there was little likelihood of any risk. As the scale of the scare grew, John Reid, the Home Secretary, issued another statement that the risk to the public was minimal. Special precautions will be in place for a Home Office pathologist to carry out a postmortem examination as well as a “special examination” of Mr Litvinenko’s body on Friday. Andrew Reid, the Inner North London Coroner, said that the examination was necessary to fully investigate the cause of death. Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gif |
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The agency has received more than 1,100 calls from members of the public worried that they might have been exposed to radiation People do not know what Alpha Radiation is and they are freaking out. |
The media frenzy around this spy case clearly illustrates why Russians have the negative perceptions of the Western press and media.
The choice of radioactive as opposed to conventional poison demonstrates that the purpose was to make a news splash. There was no point whatsoever for Putin to eliminate the defector nobody knew or cared about and have it on TV. Putin is an authoritarian figure, but not dumb. Media selects the most juicy option - KGB spies - when the facts might support any number of other options - Berezovsky did it, how about CIA did it? |
Well, thing is, we are looking at it very linearly at this moment.
Sometimes you have to kill your right hnd man to make it seem like someone else is out to get you. Maybe his "friend" had something to do with that. Who knows, the thing is that Polonium is not easy to aquire, so it is not as simple as a bullet to the back of the head. This may even be a group wanting to depose Putin and either get into, or back into power. Screaming "KGB!!!" and not looking at any other possibilities is juvenile and really should not be done. But avoiding mentioning the possibility of Putin or the KGB is also naieve and should be avoided. But we can all relax. 20 years from now someone will come out of the shadows and make a movie starring the next generations Sean Connory and it will all be explained to us in rather poor russian accents. |
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Passengers alerted as radiation traces
found on planes in spy death probe dailymail.co.uk 29th November 2006 Passengers have been asked to come forward for possible testing, after radiation traces were found on two BA planes linked to the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. The BA 767 planes operate on routes within Europe and up to 800 passengers on four flights may have been affected. A statement from the airline said: "BA has been advised that three of its Boeing 767 short haul aircraft have been identified by the UK Government as part of the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko. "The airline was contacted last night by the Government. It has taken the three B767s out of service to enable forensic examination to be carried out. "The initial results of the forensic tests, which was confirmed late this afternoon, has shown very low traces of a radioactive substance onboard two of the three aircraft. "British Airways has been advised that this investigation is confined solely to these three B767 aircraft, which will remain out of service until further notice. British Airways said they had been advised the risk to public health is low. Passengers from the following flights are being asked to come forward:• BA875 Moscow-Heathrow on October 25 - aircraft number GBNWX • BA872 Heathrow-Moscow on October 28 - aircraft number GBNWX • BA873 Moscow-Heathrow on October 31 - aircraft number GBNWB • BA874 Heathrow-Moscow on November 3 - aircraft number GBZHAThe flights would have each been carrying up to 200 passengers. © 2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd |
Aide: Doctors say Russia ex-PM poisoned
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/WORLD/eu...y.gaidarpm.jpg Yegor Gaidar pictured when Russia's acting PM in 1992. cnn.com November 30, 2006 MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Doctors treating former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, who is gravely ill, believe he was poisoned, an aide said Thursday. "Doctors don't see a natural reason for the poisoning and they have not been able to detect any natural substance known to them" in Gaidar's body, spokesman Valery Natarov said. "So obviously we're talking about poisoning (and) it was not natural poisoning." Gaidar, 50, one of the leaders of a liberal opposition party who served briefly as prime minister in the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin, began vomiting and fainted during a conference in Ireland on Friday, and was rushed into intensive care at a hospital. Gaidar's illness follows the poisoning of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London just one day before Gaidar fell ill. Another former KGB spy who met with Litvinenko on the day he was allegedly poisoned, Andrei Lugovoy, served as Gaidar's bodyguard at one point. Anatoly Chubais, a top Yeltsin-era government official and now head of the national electricity monopoly, said Wednesday that he suspected a link between Gaidar's illness, Litvinenko's death and last month's murder of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Natarov said Gaidar was feeling better Thursday. "His condition is stable and improving. Doctors say there is no threat to his life at the moment." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. |
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