Posted on 12/13/2006 6:27:20 PM PST by genefromjersey
Little by little, the media is letting go of the "Putin-did-it" theory...because the facts keep getting in the way !
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I don’t read much in the article to make that idea exceptionally plausible.
None of the individuals noted seem to have any reason to associate with terrorist with possible exception of Litvinenko
The only possible scenario to fit this idea is that Litvinenko contaminated himself while dealing for the Polonium and lightly contaminated others while traveling around.
To make the theory fly they will have to connect Litvinenko or one of the others to terrorist.
"To make the theory fly they will have to connect Litvinenko or one of the others to terrorist."
Litvinenko was a Muslim, but I don't know the details of his conversion. I had read somewhere that he had extensive contacts in Chechnya. I think this story is going to get very interesting in the next month or two.
Archive for the 'Litvinenko, Berezovsky, Chechens' Category
German investigators say the radioactive polonium-210 used to kill a former Russian spy in London last month would have cost $25 million on the black market.
Wow.
Ezekiel Option: too frightening for me.
The black market value for anything related to nuclear devices is artificially inflated very high right now. The reason is a good one. From what I understand, the West has been buying up all the nuclear related materials it can find with very high prices. The theory is that it will make it more difficult for smaller terrorist organizations to afford the stuff. What if someone was trying to sell this to the west after smuggling the loose Polonium out of Russia ? Definitely a possibility.
This came in "over the transom" this morning:
http://www.russiablog.org/2006/12/german_police_suspect_polonium.php#more
Thanks....lots to ponder...
Looked up a little on Chechnya. Most are Sunni muslims and IIRC, of the same denomination as Usama.
"Looked up a little on Chechnya. Most are Sunni muslims and IIRC, of the same denomination as Usama."
You are right. UBL is a Sunni. I wonder if Litvinenko was also a Sunni and he was helping his fellow Muslim brothers acquire material for a dirty bomb. I'll have to do some more digging.
From Wikipedia:
"In a July 2005 interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Litvinenko alleged that Ayman al-Zawahiri was trained for half of a year by the FSB in Dagestan (a republic neighbouring Chechnya) in 1998.[17][18] According to FSB spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko, Ayman al-Zawahiri was arrested by Russian authorities in Dagestan in December 1996 and released in May 1997.[19]"
And concerning his conversion:
"Two days before his death Litvinenko, a disenchanted Russian Orthodox Christian, informed his father that he had converted to Islam: the actual conversion happened at a point during his sickness but before he knew he was going to die.[33][34] Akhmed Zakayev, Foreign Minister of Chechen government-in-exile who lived next door to Mr Litvinenko and considered him "as a brother",[35] said: "He was read to from the Qur'an the day before he died and had told his wife and family that he wanted to be buried in accordance with Muslim tradition."[36] According to Vladimir Bukovsky, Litvinenko accepted Islam mostly to show his solidarity with Chechen people, who he felt were brutally oppressed by Russians.[37] Before his burial, prayers were said for Litvinenko at Regent's Park Mosque.[38] Litvinenko's reported conversion to Islam and the related wish for Muslim funeral rites were recognized by his father, but have been rejected by his widow, Marina, as well as his close friend (and press spokesman during his illness), Alex Goldfarb who preferred a non-denominational ceremony.[39]"
So my questions are these:
Did Litvinenko know/have communications with Zawahiri during this time?
How long ago did he become so enchanted with Islam?
Did he have some sort of admiration and empathy for Chechen terrorists like some of those who feel admiration and empathy for Palestinian terrorists?
I don't know exactly what it is, but something doesn't fit about this story.
I think you need to subtract the HUGE speculation the British newspapers indulge in.
Litvinenko is supposedly " a hero" to the Chechens,but I doubt he was ever more than your basic FSB man -turned-private: thug/smuggler/blackmailer/extortionist.
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