Russian letters 'revealed secret hit squad'

Detectives are investigating letters smuggled out of Russia purporting to show the existence of a secret squad set up to target poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko and others, it was claimed today.

Scotland Yard has been passed copies of two letters apparently penned in jail by former Russian intelligence officer Mikhail Trepashkin, in one of which Mr Litvinenko is warned that both he and his family are at risk.

Mr Litvinenko's London friend Alex Goldfarb said scans of the letters came into his possession yesterday and he passed them to Scotland Yard.

Mr Trepashkin, who worked for the KGB's successor the FSB until 1997, was tried in 2004 accused of being a British spy and passing secret information to Mr Litvinenko and his close friend the tycoon Boris Berezovsky, both exiled in London.

Mr Litvinenko, who died a week ago from radiation poisoning, believed he had been murdered for criticising Russian president Vladimir Putin.

A special post-mortem examination is taking place on his body at the Royal London Hospital today.

Traces of the radioactive substance polonium 210, which was found in a sample of Mr Litvinenko's urine, have since been detected at 12 sites, including British Airways planes.

The letters include one to Mr Litvinenko which he never received, as well as one to his friend Mr Goldfarb.

In the message to Mr Litvinenko on November 20, Mr Trepashkin recalls a conversation in August 2002 in which he warned Mr Litvinenko - already living in London - that he and his family were at risk from the FSB.

Mr Trepashkin tells his friend that he had met an FSB contact near a railway station in Russia who told him that a "very serious group" had been set up, which "will knock out all those associated with Berezovsky and Litvinenko".

The letter says that Mr Trepashkin was urged to co-operate with the group and provide information on Mr Litvinenko and members of his family.

"I then told him that I cannot stand dirty work, particularly eliminations," he wrote.

"My understanding then was that they were planning to take out your relatives quietly, without much fuss."

Mr Goldfarb said the other letter, addressed to him and written on November 25, detailed an offer to be a witness in the British investigation.

Mr Goldfarb, who says that he can attest to the authenticity of the handwriting, said he had immediately passed the letters to police.

Scotland Yard said that it could not confirm specific details on the investigation. "This continues to be an extremely complex investigation and detectives are pursuing many lines of inquiries," a spokesman said.

"I think it is significant because it shows that there was an FSB group set up back in 2002 that targeted Litvinenko and Berezovsky," he said.

Following fresh poisoning claims involving former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar, the Foreign Office said today that it was not aware of any evidence of a link with the Litvinenko case.

Mr Gaidar is gravely ill and until recently was receiving treatment in Ireland - where he had been attending a conference - for what was thought to be a diabetes-related condition.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said today: "We have noted the reports of Yegor Gaidar's illness and wish him a speedy recovery.

"We know of no information which suggests any connection with the Litvinenko case and will continue to follow any developments closely."

Among those caught up in the radiation scare was Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell who, along with London 2012 Olympics organising committee chairman Lord Coe, flew to Barcelona last month on a BA jet checked for contamination.

"I'm feeling absolutely tiptop. This was a scare that never was," she said today.

This is more interesting than your linked blog:

http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1150

Litvinenko was victim of 'Russian rogue agents' - The Guardian

British intelligence sources increasingly suspect that Alexander Litvinenko killed with a radioactive poison, was the victim of a plot involving "rogue elements" within the Russian state, The Guardian writes today. While ruling out any official involvement by Vladimir Putin's government, investigators believe that only those with access to state nuclear laboratories could have mounted such a sophisticated plot, the paper notes.

The Guardian reports that police were last night closing in on a group of men who entered the UK among a large crowd of Muscovite football fans. The group of five or more arrived shortly before Litvinenko fell ill and attended the CSK Moscow match against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium on November 1; they flew back shortly afterwards. While describing them only as witnesses, police believe their presence could hold the key to the former spy's death, the paper marks. Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB spy who met Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel on November 1, has said that he was on a London-bound flight from Moscow on October 31 with his family and some friends. The group attended the Arsenal-CSK Moscow match the next day. The second man who was at the meeting in the hotel, Dmitri Kovtun, arrived in London early on November 1 on a flight from Hamburg. Both men returned to Moscow together on the same flight on November 3. Kovtun said both he and Lugovoi had been tested for any signs that they had been in contact with radioactive substances and were waiting for the results, according to The Guardian.

A British Airways (BA) Boeing-767 today leaves Domodedovo airport in Moscow for London to be checked for radioactivity, news agency Interfax reports, referring to the BA representation office in Moscow.
In its turn, a Transaero Boeing 737 arrived yesterday from London's Heathrow Airport. No traces of radiation have been found on board the plane, Transaero press secretary Sergey Bykhal told Interfax. Transaero has started checking all of its planes that flew to London in the past three months. Two planes have been checked in Moscow. No traces of radiation were discovered in them, according to Bykhal.

Officials explain their increasing belief that Litvinenko's death involved Russian state elements with the fact that only the state would have access to such a radioactive material.
Officials now go so far as to say that the involvement of individuals within the FSB in the affair is "probable", The Guardian says. Intelligence sources do not rule out the possibility that the perpetrators were "rogue elements" either still in the FSB or former members of it.

Though police anti-terrorist officers are in charge of the operation, the paper cits Whitehall officials who also said MI5 and MI6 were helping. The British embassy in Moscow and the Russian embassy in London are also involved.

>Everyone might want to look at this site, where they >examine the evidence

Stop posting links to KGB sites..

Examine this: http://www.terror99.ru

Known facts: KGB/FSB tried to blow up a building full of civilians in Ryazan!

Putin helps

*N.Korea *Iraq *Iran *Syria *Hammas

Po210 found on planes flying from Moscow to London on October 25th.
Po210 can only be produced at a Nuclear Plant.

Well, he is biased and does not know what he is talking about. See this (taken from his site):

Polonium 210 for $70 Plus Shipping & Handling
Posted by AJStrata on November 29th, 2006

Only in the US could one buy non-traceable, 'no questions asked' Polonium 210 over thi internet and shipped to the location of your choice in the US (where it can be then transported anywhere). I kid you not. It is the 'no questions asked' part that gets me.

That is Bravo Sierra, as the item that can be purchased from United Nuclear only contains a tiny, tiny amount of Po-210 electroplated on the inside of the eye of a needle. How do you remove that and do you know how many $ 69 samples you need to get a clinical dose?

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