Decision ‘08

Poisoning Scandal Threatening To Turn Into International Incident

If Moscow is shown to be involved with this (and I suspect it is), look out:

Britain is monitoring five planes for radiation in an ever widening probe into the poisoning of a former Russian spy that has heightened tensions with Moscow.

British Home Secretary John Reid told parliament on Thursday that radioactive traces had been found at 12 out of 24 locations being checked by police and pledged there would be no political barriers to the probe.

The Kremlin and Russia’s foreign spy service have denied any involvement in the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who became an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

…The announcement about the planes and their destinations could rekindle suspicions of a Moscow link to the death of Litvinenko, who himself accused Putin of ordering his murder.

In Moscow, Anatoly Safonov, President Putin’s counter-terrorism adviser, told Reuters: “As we said before, we are open and willing to offer all the help needed.”

“Russia has expressed at the highest levels the political will to cooperate in the fullest way in all aspects of this affair,” Safonov told state television.

Reid told parliament that Moscow had promised cooperation to the “highest level” and that British police would use all the powers they needed to search planes.

“There certainly will be no political prohibition on the police following where the evidence leads them,” he said.

Suspicion of Moscow involvement is even on the rise in Russia itself:

It is a catastrophe. I think that it is one of those turning points as regards Russia’s image in the world, which is plummeting as it is. It is very difficult to talk to a country which poisons political opponents with thallium or something else… Russia is becoming a different country. Whereas previously it was a quasi-democratic state, we are now quickly turning into [President] Lukashenko’s Belarus, where people disappear.

Perhaps there is another explanation…Russia had certainly better hope so, because with all the trouble this is causing England, there would be major, major repercussions if the suspisions are borne out…

UPDATE 9:56 a.m.: Hmmm…now comes news that the illness of ex-Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar may be due to poison, as well…

7 Responses to “Poisoning Scandal Threatening To Turn Into International Incident”

1 Josh Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 11:09 am
This story is very interesting Mark. It makes me wonder ow the Russians who are not amateurs in the assassination game would have knowingly used a poison that was traceable (radiation), when there are many other alternatives. I am also very curious to see what the fallout will be if Russian security services are actually implicated in the killing.
2 Mark Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
And it may not be the Russians, but as Christopher Hitchens noted, it seems to be very bad for one’s health to be opposed to either Syria or Putin…
3 Andy Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
In any case, it’s interesting. From a legal point, the onus is on GB to prove that Putin authorized it, let alone that the FSB did it. But from the mano-mano perspective, all dissidents are chilled, knowing that Putin has long unstoppable arms.
4 The Amboy Times Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
33,000 BA passengers alerted over radiation

Hat tip Drudge. What is it with the Russians and poison? Just a few days ago former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko died from plutonium 210 poisoning , putting the blame squarely on Russian President Vladimir Putin. That story also had
5 kevin Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
I think the point of plutonium poisoning is a slow…painful…death that has no antedote. Putin wants his victims to suffer for a long time while contemplating their crime.
6 peter Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
When Trotsky got killed with an ice axe he died the next day, and when Markov was killed with a poison tipped umbrella he died in four days.

The more things change, the less things change.
7 Dmac Says:
November 30th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Stalin employed four different people to serve as “taste testers” for all of his food, just to be safe. Putin’s just continuing the grand tradition here.