The mystery of Litvinenko's death

BBC News ^ | 12/24/2006 | Tom Geoghegan

[GarySpFc]

"We have to put this in a historical context," he said.

"Litvinenko's last job within the FSB was heading up the anti-corruption unit and he discovered a lot of corruption there and made a lot of enemies within the KGB."
When Yeltsin broke the KGB into different agencies such as the FSB and the SVR, the majority of its members stayed on but some went into the Duma and a third group went into legitimate business, he said.

But a "murky bunch" went into what was known as the Russian mafia.

[B4Ranch]

If he was killed by a gov't team, the matter of who killed him will never be resolved. Misinformation and disinformation are being spread in the media like warm butter.

[sgtbono2002]

Thats the thing I cant understand. Why did we have to wait until he was dead for them to discover he was radioactive and pelonium was the killer?

[GarySpFc]

Why did we have to wait until he was dead for them to discover he was radioactive and pelonium was the killer?

I may be wrong, but I read somewhere this type of poison cannot be detected by a Geiger counter.

[GarySpFc]

This may surprise some who accuse me of being pro-Putin, but it may have been him or the SVR. Rogue elements in the FSB or Russian government are also a possibility. However, if I were a betting man I would put my money on the Berezovsky gang.

[spanalot]

"If he was killed by a gov't team, the matter of who killed him will never be resolved."

Fill in the blank PUTIN_



http://www.baranovfamily.org/

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

It's Pootie-Poo.

[bjs1779]

Is there anyone here who can translate Russian? I am curious about what he is talking about.

Alexander Litvinenko at the Frontline Club

[Cicero]

Alex Pravda, an expert in Russia foreign policy

Well named, indeed.

Frankly, this is a bunch of nonsense, the leftist flakes at the BBC, now one of the most ideologically corrupt news organizations in the world, sticking up for their old friends in the Soviet Nomenklatura.

[alecqss]

This line of arguing (which parrots Russian Duma's statement, btw) looks like coming directly from Gogol's "The Auditor" comedy play - there responsible officials argued that the flogged woman has performed that flogging herself...

[B4Ranch]

A guy like him with his experiences has bits and pieces about everybody who is anybody....... from Soros on down.

[alecqss]

?? The video has synchronous translation into English...

Anyways, according to the translation, Litvinenko blames Ms. Politkovskaya death squarely on Putin. He provides a lot of details (or facts as he says) including direct threats from Putin passed via Russian businessman Hakamada (not sure about spelling). He also gives some insights into the context of the events - including their meetings in London to help her in her investigation of the FSB activities in Russia and abroad.

[Chad_the_Impaler]

I not sure how reliable the following is:

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/thomas112506.htm

MI6 believe the Polonium 210, which killed former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, could have come from China.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/dastych112506.htm

[Grut]

Although the sophisticated nature of the poison suggested it could have come from the state....

Not really. Polonium 210 is used in the "Staticmaster" brush, which has been around forever. Amazon will sell you a Polonium replacement element for $13.79.

[Bon mots]

Yes.

Very mysterious.

[Yaelle]

Given the days of uncertainty about what killed him, the matter of who killed him may never be resolved.

So let's not even try?

[bjs1779]

Thanks. I should have waited a little longer to figure that out!

[Yaelle]

From little green footballs, I saw this link:

Radio station Echo Moskvy reported Friday that Litvinenko converted to Islam. Litvinenko, it said, was read the Yasin surah, or prayer, and given Islamic death rites by an imam invited to the dying spy's hospital bedside.

Ekho, a prominent liberal broadcaster funded by state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom, said Litvinenko would be buried in a Muslim cemetery in London. The station cited Chechenpress, the official news agency of the wartorn republic's insurgency.

A statement dictated by Litvinenko two days before his death and read by friends on Friday said nothing about a conversion to Islam.

A commenter on LGF said that it seems suspicious about this deathbed rites / conversion story, and the source above cites Chechenpress, as if the powers that be in Russia WANT to blame "the Chechen rebels," which the poisoned guy himself said was really a drummed up situation for Putin to obtain the martial laws he has.

[R.W.Ratikal]

Who cares?

[GarySpFc]

The Canadian Free Press is reporting the poison is from China

On Saturday morning, a day after Alexander Litvinienko died of poisoning by a radio-active isotope, Polonium-210, I got a phone call from England. Mr. Gordon Thomas, a famous British investigative journalist and intelligence author, told me he had obtained information from MI5 and MI6 sources that the rare isotope came from China. Was the notorious Chinese intelligence service interested in assassinating former KGB-FSB spy, Alexander Litvinenko? If so, perhaps only for money.