Evereyone knows Vlad the poisoner did it.
Posted on 11/28/2006 11:47:12 PM PST by MadIvan
The Kremlin mounted a concerted campaign yesterday to point the finger of suspicion at the billionaire businessman Boris Berezovsky over the death of his friend, Alexander Litvinenko, after traces of radioactive polonium-210 were found at the London offices of the exiled Russian oligarch.
Senior figures in the Russian establishment lined up to implicate Mr Berezovsky, who employed and funded the former KGB spy.
The billionaire, who has been granted asylum in Britain, last night issued a statement mourning Mr Litvinenko’s death and saying that he had “complete faith” that Scotland Yard would conduct a “thorough and professional investigation”.
Detectives are understood to want to question Mr Berezovsky in further detail about the events of November 1, the day that Mr Litvinenko fell ill.
Mr Berezovsky has declined to explain publicly why Mr Litvinenko, who was recently given British citizenship, visited his headquarters in Mayfair that day.
The billionaire has accused President Putin’s regime of being behind the murder.
In his first comment on the Litvinenko affair Tony Blair yesterday insisted that no “diplomatic or political barrier” would be permitted to obstruct the police inquiry, even if the evidence pointed to a statesponsored killing.
The Prime Minister, who was on a brief stopover in Copenhagen on his way to the Nato summit in Riga, said that Mr Litvinenko’s death was being treated as a “very, very serious matter”.
He added: “We are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible.”
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office declared that it was ready to assist the British police. A spokesman said that British detectives would be welcome to come to Moscow and would receive the Government’s full co-operation.
Mr Blair has been kept informed of developments in the inquiry, but he is not scheduled to meet President Putin in Riga. So far the Prime Minister has not spoken to Mr Putin about the case, but will do so when the time is “appropriate”.
Mr Putin has strenuously denied that the Russian authorities had anything to do with Mr Litvinenko’s death.
Police have questioned Mario Scaramella, an Italian nuclear expert who met Mr Litvinenko at a sushi bar in Piccadilly, where evidence of the radioactive poison was found. So far polonium-210 has been found at seven locations across London.
At one of those sites — 25 Grosvenor Street, the offices of Erinys, an international security company — a spokesman said that Mr Litvinenko did not work for them but had been visiting a friend there.
As Kremlin sources made their claims against Mr Berezovsky, a number of prominent politicians in Moscow named him publicly as a key figure in the affair.
Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Duma’s foreign affairs committee, said that Mr Litvinenko was linked with “certain oligarchs, including Mr Berezovsky, who in recent years have been deprived of the chance to buy corrupt power with stolen money, and apparently cannot accept this”.
In the past Russia has tried to extradite him on financial charges but the request was refused by Britain after Mr Berezovsky argued that the charge was politically motivated.
Valery Dyatlenko, a deputy head of the security committee in the Duma, Russia’s lower house, told state television: “The death of Litvinenko — for Russia, for the security services — means nothing . . . I think this is another game of some kind by Berezovsky.”
Toxicologists tested for the presence of polonium-210 at more locations in Central London that had been visited by Mr Litvinenko on the day he fell ill.
Eight people have been sent for further tests at a specialist clinic by the Health Protection Agency to check for contamination. The agency has received more than 1,100 calls from members of the public worried that they might have been exposed to radiation, but officials insisted that there was little likelihood of any risk.
As the scale of the scare grew, John Reid, the Home Secretary, issued another statement that the risk to the public was minimal.
Special precautions will be in place for a Home Office pathologist to carry out a postmortem examination as well as a “special examination” of Mr Litvinenko’s body on Friday.
Andrew Reid, the Inner North London Coroner, said that the examination was necessary to fully investigate the cause of death.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
I work with a lot of Russians. Nice guys, but you wouldn't believe the baloney they think is truth. To them, absolutely nothing is as it appears.
I guess that's what growing up in the history's largest prison camp does to the mind.
sumptin from Shakespeare: me thinks he doth protest too much-focus: putin
Add China and Iran. They tend to get tripped up by the web of intrigue they imagined.
Evereyone knows Vlad the poisoner did it.
Regards, Ivan
There must be a lot of Russians over at DUmmyland.
c'mon, pal, your talking about Massachusettes.
Pukin' Putin really over played his hand.
I'm sure anyone could get Polonium 210 from your nearest
pharmacy.
Who knows...maybe the killers will drink themselves to death, just like Kim Philby did.
Put up that two finger salute towards Putin.
I love conspiracies, but this one is as thin as they come and has no ring of truth in it. Just Putin's shills pointing fingers in all directions to divert attention and make the whole affair "too complicated" (like Clintons' Whitewater was often described by media to avoid reporting.)
One small thing, for starters - Berezovsky had absolutely nothing to gain from killing the guy who was investigating Putin's potential implications in slaying of Russian journalist[s].
If the Russians wanted Litvinenko killed there are myriad better ways of doing it, with the ways ranging from the mundane (eg 'blown' tire) to more 'elaborate' methods. There would be no reason to use a relative slow method that is highly exotic and allows the person to shout from the mountaintops how Putin is trying to kill him (particularly just before Putin is scheduled to head to Europe).
Furthermore while Mr. Litvinenko was a thorn in Putin's side, he was not that major of a thorn to warrant such a hit.
Now, if you look at Berezovsky you have a person who has it BIG for Putin. Absolutely hates the guy. Furthermore you have a person who is among the richest people in the world, being one of the billionaire oligarchs. He definitely has the means (you'd be surprised what a resource base of several billion is capable of purchasing), and he has the motive (to discredit Putin before the European meet).
Anyways, did Putin do it? Maybe he was overcome by a spell of sheer and utter stupidity and decided to kill Litvinenko in a manner that left breadcrumbs heading straight to Moscow.
Did Berezovsky do it? Saying 'yes' outright would be the best evidence of prudence, but he does have the means and the motive.
Anyways, I'm not 'defending' Putin. And I am not subscribing to a conspiracy theory. All I am saying is that the manner and mode of death was of a highly-damaging nature when the Russians had access to quite a number of other measures that would have been far more effective (inculding some that would enable them to 'send a message' without smearing themselves in the process). As for Berezovsky ....I am not saying he did it (until evidence comes out saying that he did it then he did NOT do it), but he is definitely capable of doing it.
I'd say both sides are doing exactly what they accuse each other of doing:
pro-Putin types are screaming that Berezovsky did it, and nothing can dissuade them of that 'fact' (even though there is NOT ONE scintilla of proof that Mr. B was involved at all with this case, apart from Mr. Litvinenko having visited him, and yet the pro-Putin types automatically pointed the finger at Berezovsky based on nothing but 'beliefs' and convoluted connections).
Anti-Putin types are doing the same, but in their case adamantly asserting that it had to be Putin (his authorisation) and not even bothering to look at how bizzare it would be for Putin to authorize such a STUPID hit (target doesn't deserve a hit, methodology utilized was seriously flawed, timeframe, creation of a furor just before a major meeting).
I'd rather wait and see what happens. I'm sure the Brits will come up with an answer one way or the other.
This is sending a message, not just taking out Litvinenko - Putin is saying, "We can take you out anytime, anywhere - keep quiet, unless you want to die in agony."
That's a powerful message to send.
Regards, Ivan
It wouldn't take much to plant it.
Senior figures in the Russian establishment lined up to implicate Mr Berezovsky, who employed and funded the former KGB spy. ==
Very possible because Berezovskii is the master of political provocations and he hate Putin' guts. Berezovskii did resembling thing once with Ivan Ribkin. Ribkin was the president candidate in 2002 whose Berezovskii financed. Then he disappeared. Bezerovskii began the press campaign accusing the goverment that it killed Ribkin. But Ribkin reappeared suddently in Kiev, Ukraine. He told that unindetified people dugged him and move him to Kiev where they held him in some house under guard. Same time Berezovskii raved and rant on TV.
But Ribkin deceived guards and escaped. Then return to Russia. Berezovskii campaign doomed.
I find it very interesting how every last pro-Russian shill said Berezovsky was to blame right after Litvinenko died...==
It is because he is the one who benefits from this scandal. He is teh master of provocations and hates Putin. It is just the motive.
Second thing he had the access to Litvinenko who inturn was his minion. It is opportunity.
The polonium 210 he could buy here. Link: http://www.unitednuclear.com/isotopes.htm . The price isn't big: $69.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.