Posted on 11/27/2006 8:56:25 AM PST by A. Pole
Chechen rebels have said they will honour ex-Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died of radiation poisoning.
"The president and the government of Ichkeria [the rebel name for Chechnya] plans to bestow the state's highest decoration to compensate the actions of Alexander Litvinenko on behalf of the Chechen people," said a rebel statement.
Litvinenko's poisoning death in London on Thursday is still being investigated by British police. But the Chechen rebels blamed Moscow for his death by apparent radiation poisoning.
The incident has strained relations between London and Moscow, which denies any involvement in the incident.
Litvinenko was close to Chechen rebel representative Akhmed Zakayev, who visited his bedside before his death and accused the Kremlin of exporting "gangster politics" to Britain.
A former colonel in the KGB and its successor the Federal Security Service, Litvinenko co-authored a 2003 book blaming the Russian secret service for being behind the bombings in Moscow apartment buildings in 1999.
But he never furnished proof to back his accusations about the attacks, blamed on Chechen rebels.
Litvinenko had also "adopted the Muslim religion", according to the Chechen declaration, making him a "martyr" with his death.
Martyr bump
Sounds like a Dan Rather problem?
If the Chechen butchers are honoring the guy, Putin may have done the world a favor.
Al Jezeera?
I think I agree with you if it is true.
It has been almost totally ignored in the Western media that Linvinenko converted to Islam 2 months ago.
That's the first I had heard about his conversion. It certainly lends credibility to the possibility of self poisoning.
Well David Satter wrote about it, also, Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in October.
Would not be the first time a Country killed their own.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior
Thanks for the post. I see that this is very complicated and there are many bad guys who could have been involved in this.
Like flies for crap, you have the predilection for crappy sources: debka, al jazeera, and the like. Do you have a civilizational allergy to everything decent?
You are missing the point. Al Jazeera is a Muslim source and might be appropriate for info about Muslim converts. I never use debka (unless by mistake).
*
Via Playfuls.com: '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.
BBC Obit here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6163502.stm
"He also denounced the war in Chechnya as a crime, called for Russian troops to be withdrawn, and said compensation should be paid to Chechens.
One of his friends - and one of a number of Russian exiles now settled in Britain - is Akhmed Zakayev, a former Chechen commander living under asylum in London.
The two men lived on the same street in London, it has been reported."
Well, if you take such sources seriously, maybe I'll be able to sell you, say, a spassky tower of kremlin. Cheap, too. Who would believe the baboon's claim of Litvinenko conversion?
Is there any reason why you think that Litvinenko conversion is unlikely?
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