Condition of former KGB spy worsens ( Putin ? )

Yahoo News & AP ^ | 11-20-06 | TARIQ PANJA

[george76]

LONDON - A former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic who was poisoned three weeks ago was moved into intensive care Monday after his condition deteriorated, and his doctor said the toxin has attacked his bone marrow.

Prominent Russian exiles claimed Litvinenko was poisoned at the behest of the Kremlin...

Thallium causes hair loss and interferes with the cardiovascular and nervous systems, attacking the vital organs.

Litvinenko's white cell count is down to nearly zero, said Dr. John Henry, a clinical toxicologist treating him. "It shows his bone marrow has been attacked and that he is susceptible to infection,"

Litvinenko, who has been a thorn in the Russian government's side since the late 1990s, fell ill after a meal with a contact who claimed to have details about the slaying of another Kremlin critic — Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian investigative journalist who was gunned down Oct. 7 in her Moscow apartment building.

Litvinenko blamed her killing on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Somebody has asked me directly, who is guilty of Anna's death?

And I can directly answer you: it is Mr. Putin, president of the Russian Federation," he said at a meeting at a media club in London in October.

Other Russian dissidents in Britain also blamed the Kremlin for Litvinenko's condition.

"Permission to assassinate abroad can only be given from the top," Oleg Gordievsky, former deputy head of the KGB at the Soviet Embassy in London told The Associated Press.

"How can it not be state-sponsored?"...

exiled Russian dissident Boris Berezovsky was adamant that Putin, a former spy himself, was not only aware of the operation, but gave the orders.

"There's no doubt Putin gave the command to kill him," ... who claimed that Litvinenko had also been targeted a year ago, when a grenade was thrown into his home.

[Dallas59]

I betcha Dems have ordered a couple of batches from Russia...

[snarks_when_bored]

The clear-souled Putin would never do such a thing...

[george76]

[SmoothTalker]

Putin is a scary man. He is taking Russia backwards in a hurry.

[george76]

[DB]

You would think that will all the publicity from the previous murder they would lie low for awhile...

Hard to know what to think...

[Mo1]

Yep

[george76]

Putin probably had a hit out for him for a while.

The KGB got an opportunity and took it.

They may think that this publicity will shut up many of their other critics.

Good news from the soviet view point ?

[Stonewall Jackson]

Have there been any books published in the past few years that take a serious look at the way Russia is slipping back toward a communist-style dictatorship?

I know there have been a few novels that deal with this scenario, but I was wondering if someone had actually gathered all of the facts and evidence into one volume.

[Timedrifter]

It's a typical Boris Berezovsky information war stunt. He is the only one who really has anything to gain from such a turn of events, and he certainly was ready with the talking points and press releases in this case.

[george76]

Do you think that Boris Berezovsky arranged the poisoning ?

or he is using it politically after the fact ?

[TravisBickle]

Maybe Putin can write a book about how he didn't do it, but if he had done it, this is how he would have done it. But, keep in mind, he didn't really do it.

[reagan_fanatic]

Putin is a scary man. He is taking Russia backwards in a hurry

What's even more frightening is what he's gotten away with that's never made the media.

[george76]

Who do you think did the poisoning ?

Second, who do you think arranged or approved the poisoning ?

[GarySpFc]

Do you think that Boris Berezovsky arranged the poisoning ?
or he is using it politically after the fact ?

Firstly, for all those who believe the nonsense regarding Russia not having a free media the Litvinenko case is first page news throughout Russia. This one paper has 3 articles devoted to the case on the front page, and the articles are critical.

Secondly, on the street Russians have a far different view than Americans. To quote, but one Russian, "Indeed. If it was the FSB there wouldn't be an implication.

On the otherhand if an exiled oligarch, with tons of cash, were trying to overthrow the Russian government (After publically stating he would do just that), this is exactly the sort of high profile slander he (as a former media mogul) would employ.

Seems we've found the rat and his name is Berezovsky."

Thirdly, most in Russia thought the Anna Polikovskaya murder was the work of either a Russian colonel or the governor of Chechnya, NOT Putin or the FSB. The FSB agents are professionals, and they would not have allowed their picture to be taken by a security camera as we saw with Polikovskaya's murderer.



"Investigators found images of the killer on video recordings made by the camera in the entrance to Politkovskaya's building and in Ramstore. The recordings, which were transmitted to the server of a private security company, show that the assumed murderer was a thin young man about 180 cm. tall dressed in dark clothes. He enters the building before her murder and leaves afterward. His facial features are barely distinguishable on the recordings, but salespeople in the pharmacy near the building's entrance helped create a sketch of him. The same person was spotted by surveillance cameras in the Ramstor where Politkovskaya had done her shopping. Investigators concluded from the Ramstor footage that the killer was aided by a woman of about 30 who followed Politkovskaya in the store. Law enforcement agencies are now searching for both of those people."

Now let's pray the individual who posioned Litvinenko is brought to justice.

It appears the murderer of Anna Polikovskaya has already suffered that fate. Colonel Movladi Baisarov, a suspect in the Polikovskaya murder, engaged the police in a gunbattle yesterday and lost.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

While this may not be true, it is more than possible that the FSB could have staged Anna's murder, i.e., deliberately allowing video footage of the "hired gun" and then instigating the police shooting of Colonel Movladi Baisarov. This would tie the matter up quite nicely for the FSB even if the Russian public was unsuspecting anyway.

But I do not expect you to entertain this line of thinking, of course.

[Mr. Jeeves]

"Pooty-Poot, how do I deal with this Harry Reid character now that we've lost the election?"

"Georgy-Porgy, there are ways to stifle internal dissent - you just aren't trying hard enough." ;)

[GarySpFc]

What you are saying may or may not be true. However, you can go back and check my posts where I stated Russians believe he was one of the suspects prior to his being gunned down. The video does not show Colonel Baisarov.

[dforest]

I guess this happens when some one has no fear of being caught. Back to the old days once again.