Dead Russian spy to be buried as a Muslim

Timesonline ^ | December 4, 2006 | Philippe Naughton

[BMC1]

Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian intelligence agent poisoned in London, is to be buried according to Muslim tradition after converting to Islam on his deathbed.

The spy's father, Walter Litvinenko, said in an interview published today that his son - who was born an Orthodox Christian but had close links to Islamist rebels in Chechnya - made the request as he lay dying in University College Hospital.

"He said ’I want to be buried according to Muslim tradition’," Mr Litvinenko told Moscow's Kommersant daily.

"I said, ’Well son, as you wish. We already have one Muslim in our family - my daughter is married to a Muslim. The important thing is to believe in the Almighty. God is one.’"

Nine Scotland Yard detectives were preparing to fly to Moscow as early as today to speak to witnesses who met Litvinenko around the time of his poisoning, which is believed to have happened on November 1 at a sushi restaurant in Piccadilly.

The Russian foreign ministry confirmed today that visas had been issued to the investigators and the prosecutor-general's office also offered "to provide all necessary help to British colleagues within the framework of international agreements and the law of the Russian Federation".

[A knight without armor]

WHAT?! Funny, he didn't look moo.

[justa-hairyape]

He wrote a book claiming the Russian government staged fake terrorist attacks on their own soil as a pretext for retaking the independent state of Chechnya. Why would the Chechen's not honor him after he was assassinated by an exotic poison ?

[G8 Diplomat]

The spy's father, Walter Litvinenko

Walter? That's a real Russian name.../s

[rabidralph]

I hope he got a Vonage phone pack on his way out. Talk about stupid decisions.

[GSlob]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1748224/posts?page=53#53.

[G8 Diplomat]

Interesting thread...there goes any former respect I had for this guy. Flushed down the toilet...but since this is Russia we're talking about here there proabaly won't be any toilet paper to go with it ;)

[G8 Diplomat]

Hmmm..on second thought, why is this news coming out AFTER he died? If he said he wanted to buried a Muslim shortly before he died on Nov. 23, why didn't they report it then? Why wait till 11 days later on Dec. 4?

Still though, if it's true, I've got no more respect for him.

[A. Pole]

Why wait till 11 days later on Dec. 4?

Because releasing this information earlier would spoil anti-Putin campaign. Now it is OK since general public formed the desired association and is not capable to change it.

[justa-hairyape]

Okay. Let me see if I understand the Russian position. The guy who wrote a book claiming that Putin had faked terrorist attacks on Russian soil as a pretext for war with Chechnya, was actually a liar and a closet Muslim so therefore it was okay to kill him with an exotic nuclear poison on foreign soil and contaminate more then a dozen sites with radiation. Now if he was helping Islamic terrorist, why not just shoot em in a dark alley ? So perhaps we are back to the, he was trying to help Islamists terrorist make a dirty bomb with this short range alpha emitter. If that was the case, the Russians should have just let Scotland Yard handle it.

[genefromjersey]

http://insidestraight.typepad.com/the_inside_straight/2006/12/more_musings_on.html

[A. Pole]

If that was the case, the Russians should have just let Scotland Yard handle it.

On British territory Scotland Yard already can do its work. In Russia Scotland Yard has to acquire proper permissions and work together with Russian police on the same conditions as Russian police would be allowed to operate in UK in analogical situation.

[Silly]

[GarySpFc]

The spy's father, Walter Litvinenko

Walter? That's a real Russian name.../s

Actually it is a Russian name. It's Valter, which is the short version for Vladimir.

[Gator113]

No problem.

Dig him up, blow him up, scrape him up, and bury him again. There, all is in keeping with his last wishes.

[ducdriver]

"Just in time for the 72 virgins!"

The lowest pit of Hell.

[GarySpFc]

The West has to protect the peace with Russia and China at all costs, or else we lose any leverage we have over North Korea and Iran. I believe that the Muslim story was planted by someone.

Yes, that someone was Litvinenko's father, Valter Litvinenko.

[spanalot]

You leave out that he was born into the Russian Orthodox Church and as a KGB agent, he came to know that his "spiritual" home was infested with KGB agents.

His deathbed wish for a Muslim burial was a last desperate act of defiance against the KGB.

---

The former spy adds that Putin aimed to turn the Orthodox Church abroad "into outposts of Russian state interests. Russian intelligence has penetrated the Orthodox Church and is utilising it for spying abroad."

Preobrazhensky, who plans to write about this phenomenon in his forthcoming book The KGB And The Russian Diaspora, points out that around a third of Russian Orthodox worshippers outside the borders of Russia are not native Russians but the children and grandchildren of immigrants. This, he says, gives the intelligence service a route to "ordinary" Britons and Americans who have no understanding of Russian life and are more vulnerable to exploitation.

"Westerners would think it unbelievable that a priest could be a spy - but in Russia is has been going on for almost 100 years," he adds. "Believe me - Russian Orthodox churches in the UK are infiltrated by Russian intelligence." The Sunday Herald contacted one Russian Orthodox church but the clergy there declined to comment on the allegations.

Preobrazhensky says that Russia's intelligence services had "dared" to kill Litvinenko as Putin "isn't afraid of the West at all. He believes they will never scold him as they think he is their friend". Preobrazhensky's words seemed to ring true last Friday when EU leaders met with Putin on the eve of an EU-Russia summit. Not one word was raised by Western leaders about the killing of Litvinenko. It was taken as an indication of just how dependent Europe now is on oil and gas-rich Russia.

"Russian intelligence is now very brave and bold," says Preobrazhensky. "In that way it differs from the old KGB as the KGB was afraid of condemnation from the West. Today, Russian intelligence is more like it was under Stalin - back then it ignored what the West felt and had no fear of the West."

---

[Thunder90]

The Russian Orthodox Church has been a state organ since Stalin.

[lkco]

That's why there is a lot of resistance among the old-timer (communist-fleeing) "out-of-Russia" Orthodox. There have been multiple attempts at full re-unification with the the "mother" church. "Old-timers" have been resisting the communist-infected "mother church", sometimes leading to the collapse or civil war within congregations. Happening all over US and Canada.

[dennisw]

Sick ... what's up with this? Only Pooty gets to deal with Mulsims