russia backed litvinenko murder

[Amby 490]

The murder of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko was carried out with the backing of the Russian state, Whitehall sources have told the BBC.

A senior security official has told Newsnight there are "very strong indications it was a state action".

Mr Litvinenko, who was a fierce critic of former Russian President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned in London in 2006.

UK investigators suspect former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of the murder, but he has always denied any involvement.

The BBC has been told that Russia's internal security organisation, the FSB, operated under Mr Putin with far more autonomy than the organisations usually entrusted with foreign espionage operations.

Our source said: "We very strongly believe the Litvinenko case to have had some state involvement."

Newsnight has also learned that officers at MI5 believe they thwarted an attempt last summer to kill another Russian dissident, Boris Berezovsky.

The BBC's source said the Berezovsky incident showed "continued FSB willingness to consider operations against people in the West".

And they claimed the targeting of Russian government critics in the UK had serious diplomatic repercussions, saying: "[it] messes up the relationship big time."

In November, head of MI5 Jonathan Evans expressed concern that there had been "no decrease" in the number of Russian covert intelligence officers operating in the UK since the end of the Cold War.

The service believes there are around 30 operating from Russian diplomatic missions here.

In May 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service formally submitted an extradition request to Moscow for Mr Lugovoi to stand trial in Britain.

That request remains current, but Russia has refused to cooperate saying it would be against its constitution to do so.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is thought to have raised the case as he held his first face-to-face talks with new Russian president Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 summit in Japan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7494142.stm

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

That was timely

[Amby 490]

saw it and decided it had to be posted

[Brad and Vika 129]

A curiosity question folks. Do we extradite US citizens to countries if they are charged with a capital crime there? I would guess no, because it would be pretty easy in some countries to manufacture a charge like that, but I really don't know.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

A curiosity question folks. Do we extradite US citizens to countries if they are charged with a capital crime there? I would guess no, because it would be pretty easy in some countries to manufacture a charge like that, but I really don't know.

Depends on who we have extradition treaties with.

The Litvinenko murder was extremely dodgy... coming as it did on the back of the murders of several other Russian dissidents.

[Brad and Vika 129]

So that begs another question. Does Russia extradite to other countries? I understand that Lugovoi is even running for MP in his oblast. It seems like he is somehow rewarded, and gaining popularity there, rather than living as some kind of criminal/exposed spook shielded by the Russian Constitution. Just an observation.

[Amby 490]

that situation was crazy. we stayed in the millennium hotel when we were in london for my husband's interview in december 06. there were loads of police vans and such outside and we couldn't go into certain parts of the hotel. it will forever be the polonium 210 hotel to me

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well here's what the Russian constitution has to say...

2. In the Russian Federation it shall not be allowed to extradite to other States those people who are persecuted for political convictions, as well as for actions (or inaction) not recognized as a crime in the Russian Federation. The extradition of people accused of a crime, and also the handover of convicts for serving sentences in other States shall be carried out on the basis of the federal law or the international agreement of the Russian Federation.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

So that begs another question. Does Russia extradite to other countries? I understand that Lugovoi is even running for MP in his oblast. It seems like he is somehow rewarded, and gaining popularity there, rather than living as some kind of criminal/exposed spook shielded by the Russian Constitution. Just an observation.

Well, they may allow "you come and get him and take him out of the country--if you succeed, we'll consider him as extradited; but don't assume we're going to give him to you easily".

On the question of extradition of US citizens; I actually don't know, but you're correct that it is easy to manufacture a charge while the person is present in another country (considered nearly to be a sport by many corrupt Mexican cops), especially if the USC is a dual-national of the country in question.

But not exactly NEWS that Putin was behind bump-off of Litvinenko

Edited July 8, 2008 by CherryXS

[almaty 19]

czar putin...suxs

[Brad and Vika 129]

But not exactly NEWS that Putin was behind bump-off of Litvinenko

Right - when the Russian government refused to provide a sample of their radioactve material and allow Scotland Yard investigators full access to information it appeared obvious.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I dunno - the police investigation was pretty thorough and public. The method of poison used was detected in several locations visited by the guys who met Litvinenko at the time he is believe to have been poisoned. One of those people is now in hospital in Russia for radiation poisoning. Coincidence my #######...

On November 1, 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill. Earlier that day he had met two former KGB officers, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun. Lugovoi is a former bodyguard of Russian ex-Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar (also reportedly poisoned in November 2006) and former chief of security for the Russian TV channel ORT. Kovtun is now a businessman. Litvinenko had also had lunch at Itsu, a sushi restaurant on Piccadilly in London, with an Italian acquaintance and nuclear waste expert, Mario Scaramella, to whom he reportedly made allegations regarding Romano Prodi's connections with the KGB.[10] Scaramella, attached to the Mitrokhin Commission investigating KGB penetration of Italian politics, claimed to have information on the death of Anna Politkovskaya, 48, a journalist who was killed at her Moscow apartment in October 2006. He passed Litvinenko papers supposedly concerning her fate. On November 20, it was reported that Scaramella had gone into hiding and was in fear for his life.[11]

Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service Terrorism Unit has been investigating the poisoning and death. The head of the Counter-Terrorism Unit, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, stated the police "will trace possible witnesses, examine Mr. Litvinenko's movements at relevant times, including when he first became ill and identify people he may have met. There will also be an extensive examination of CCTV footage."[44] The United Kingdom Government COBRA committee met to discuss the investigation.[45] Richard Kolko from the United States FBI stated "when requested by other nations, we provide assistance" - referring to the FBI now joining the investigation for their expertise on radioactive weapons.[46][47] The Metropolitan Police announced on 6 December 2006 that it was treating Litvinenko's death as murder.[48] Interpol has also joined the investigation, providing "speedy exchange of information" between British, Russian and German police.[49]

[edit] Polonium trails

Detectives traced three distinct polonium trails in and out of London. The trails were left by Litvinenko, Andrei Lugovoi, and Dmitry Kovtun. The patterns and levels of radioactivity they left behind suggested that Litvinenko ingested polonium, whereas Logovoi and Kovtun handled them directly.[30] The human body dilutes the polonium before excreting in sweat, which results in a reduced radioactivity level.

The poisoning of Litvinenko took place at around 5 p.m. of November 1 in the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square. The bus he travelled to the hotel had no signs of radioactivity - but large amounts had been detected at the hotel.[50] Polonium was subsequently found in a fourth-floor room and in a cup in the Pine Bar at the hotel.[51] After the Millennium bar, Litvinenko stopped at the office of Boris Berezovsky. He used a fax machine, where the radioactivity was found later. At 6 p.m. Akhmed Zakayev picked Litvinenko up and brought him home to Muswell Hill. The amount of radioactivity left by Litvinenko in the car was so significant, the car was rendered unusable.[30] Everything that he touched at home during next three days was contaminated. His family was unable to return to the house even six months later. His wife was tested positive for ingesting polonium but did not leave a secondary trail behind her. This suggested that anyone who left a trail could not pick up the polonium from Litvinenko.[30]

Besides Litvinenko, only two persons left the polonium trails: Lugovoy and Kovtun who were school friends and worked previously for Russian intelligence, in the KGB and the GRU, respectively.[30] These people handled the radioactive material directly and did not ingest it, because they left more significant traces of polonium than Litvinenko.[30]

Lugovoy and Kovtun met Litvinenko in the Millennium hotel bar two times, on November 1 (when the poisoning took place), and earlier, on October 16. Trails left by Lugovoy and Kovtun started on October 16, in the same sushi bar where Litvinenko was poisoned later, but at a different table. It was assumed that their first meeting with Litvinenko was either a rehearsal of the future poisoning, or an unsuccessful attempt of the poisoning.[30]

Traces left by Lugovoy were also found in the office of Berezovsky that he visited on October 31, a day before his second meeting with Litvinenko. Traces left by Kovtun were found in Hamburg, Germany. He left them on his way to London on October 28-31.[30] The traces were found in passenger jets[52][53] BA875 and BA873 from Moscow to Heathrow on October 25 and October 31, as well as flights BA872 and BA874 from Heathrow to Moscow on October 28 and November 3.[54][55]

Andrei Lugovoi has said he flew from London to Moscow on a November 3 flight. He stated he arrived in London on October 31 to attend the football match between Arsenal and CSKA Moscow on November 1.[56] When the news broke that a radioactive substance had been used to murder Litvinenko, a team of scientists rushed to find out how far the contamination had spread. It led them on a trail involving hundreds of people and dozens of locations.[57]

British Airways later published a list of 221 flights of the contaminated aircraft, involving around 33,000 passengers, and advised those potentially affected to contact the UK Department for Health help. On December 5 they issued an email to all of their customers, informing them that the aircraft had all been declared safe by the UK's Health Protection Agency and would be entering back into service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lit...s_and_poisoning

Edited July 8, 2008 by Number 6

[Brad and Vika 129]

I followed the investigation on BBC pretty closely, and remember that the Yard had to use the process of elimination to determine the pioson was Russian. There is only three places in the world the stuff is made, and each leaves a specific signature. Russia refused to provide a sample for analysis. Also, the BA planes were checked for radiation, as was the airport in England, but the Russian airport was not. Russia refused initially to allow investigators to interview suspects at all. The process and results were well covered, but the Russians didn't appear to cooperate very well.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Clearly - but from the information that was uncovered there would seem to be ample evidence to bring either or both of the men who met with Litvinenko to trial.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Clearly - but from the information that was uncovered there would seem to be ample evidence to bring either or both of the men who met with Litvinenko to trial.

No doubt about it.