Who Poisoned Alexander Litvinenko? Radioactive thallium link

[Sweejak]

Russian thinking, not a very good translation but if read carefully gives a lot to think about indeed.

Snips:

Quote:
The world has to be integrated, but the value of national cultures does not decrease, it only grows instead. One has to safeguard sovereignty.


Quote:
It has suddenly been discovered that we [Russia] opress them somehow. They are discriminated against in our country. And regions, where these Finno-Ugrians constitute a majority of the population, do hold a strategic amount of our oil reserves. I am not a fan of conspiracy theories. But this is obviously a premeditated system of operations [against Russia]. Last week there was a resolution in PACE about how “we” oppress the Finno-Ugric nations (the Hants, the Mansi, the Chuvash, the Komi peoples etc). These are yesterday’s schemes, and they’re evident. And I didn’t even start to mention all those “orange revolutions”, about humanitarian institutes’ activities. It’s common knowledge, that Freedom House is headed by Woolsey, who used to be the head of the CIA. It takes an idiot to believe in the humanitarian mission of this “establishment” [Surkov uses the word “kontora”, which means “office” in Russian and used to be a codename of the KGB in Soviet times]. We also should not forget, that specific circles in those countries are also pursuing similar tasks. We have to take this into account in our work.


Quote:
They’ve got it all wrong if they think that they can do what they please. From the very start we kept saying, that we won’t tolerate [this approach]. We won’t allow a small bunch of companies to exercise power in this country. This is not democracy. Apart from that small bunch of people, there are also 140 million “poor relatives”, living in this country. And their opinion should be also taken into account. In our business people like to say “I come from the business background myself”. There is a memorable quote by one of the U.S. presidents, who said: “What’s good for GM, is good for America”. I would like to remind, that both the Roosevelt brothers had a somewhat different view of [big] business. I won’t even quote them, in order not to offend anyone present here. But even the trade secretary in JFK’s government used to say: “Sometimes, it’s this way, but sometimes it’s the other way round.” Sometimes, what’s good for General Motors is not good at all.


Quote:
We can invent a situation whereby the political class works on rotation. They are in Monte-Carlo... But this is the way to nowhere.


Quote:
I would like to say, that our project is a commonplace one. I would name it briefly as a “sovereign democracy.” It is not good to add something to democracy because a third way issue appears. But we are forced to do that because liberal politicians consider the sovereignty issue as not actual. I often hear that democracy is more important than sovereignty. We do not admit it. We think we need both. An independent state is worth fighting for.


Quote:
“Vladimir, do not get more than 80 percent of the vote; I have 50, and that is enough for me.” What was he [George W. Biush] thinking about? Should Putin have sat down and called to the Central Election Commission, and said, “Hey, listen, give me no more than 80, better 70 percent.”


Quote:
There is no culture of coalition building in this country! Italy has lived through 60 governments in 5 decades. Do you think Russia can handle that? Never! And how do they come to terms today?


Quote:
Speaking on securing sovereignty, we believe in the national elite. Here I stress the word “national”. Any well provided person visits the same places in Moscow and in London — Armani boutiques look almost alike everywhere — and the things there are close to each other regarding their class. Evidently, people like you and me, we feel that we are integrated, united, that our borders have no space. I tell you once again that we must remember that 140 million far from rich but complex people live in the country. It is strange to ignore such a fact.


http://mosnews.com/interview/2005/07/12/surkov.shtml

My current take in order of liklihood:

1. Obviously I think that at the very least this is PR to demonize the Russian. KAL 007?
To wit:
I Told the World the Soviets Shot It Down in Cold Blood, But I Was Wrong http://homepage.mac.com/kaaawa/iblog/C1 ... index.html

2. Rogue elements in Russian Right wing. Either acting independently or perhaps used by FSB, which, if so, they would be totally pissed off at the timing of these assassinations. Putin's Birthday no less!

3. Litvinenko was tangled up in various crime and underworld activities, Oligarchs, maybe Mossad, Chechen rebels,(apparently converting to Islam) NeoCons, probably others MI6? etc, expanding the possibilities to an almost unfathomable degree. Personally I don't think we will find out any time soon.

4. A "ritual sacrifice", the reported words of Berezovsky, and I believe even Putin mentioned it.

5. Utter incompetence and ludicrous timing on the part of Russia's black ops.

Putin sent a rather strong message to the war party, the delivery of this:
http://tinyurl.com/y57tjb
A very capable system that has the NeoCons howling even to the point of claiming that this weapon is offensive. True the line between offensive and defensive is a little grey but their reaction is not.

In the end I'm where I started out. Putin, NWO player? I still don't know but after reading Vladislav Surkov’s speech I think they are on to something else that is neither, and it's not American style "democracy". Geography I think is a large determinant in what social system you live with. Russia happens to be surrounded. Those who think that working with the EU is evidence of NWO tendencies think they should not cooperate with the EU?[ http://tinyurl.com/y4x8n4 ] They will of course and they will play a mean game of chess while they're at it.

W likes to say, I guess Condi briefly woke him up and told him, that the oceans will not protect us anymore, Hello! I guess they didn't in the Revolutionary War either, but when someone is on your border it makes a difference.

[Sweejak]

Spystory Mania: Litvinenko's "Italian Connection"

So apart from the "Litvinenko and Scaramella claim Romano Prodi was a KGB agent" story - in which Scaramella seems to have been less an "information pedlar" than an "information pedlar's client", what exactly is this "Guzzanti Commission" thingy, and is Mario Scaramella really a member of it?

I checked it out: according to Wikipedia, the "Guzzanti Commission" is another name for the "Mitrokhin Commission":


The "Mitrokhin commission", as it was known, was opened up after KGB agent Vasili Mitrokhin's 1992 defection to the West, and was led by Senator Paolo Guzzanti, a member of Berlusconi's Forza Italia.
...and yes indeed, Mario Scaramella - whom according to Italian press sources is a professor at the University of Naples, and also heads an official-type outfit called the Environmental Crime Prevention Programme - ECPP for short (as Sec. Gen. of which he officially pontificated at various OSCE and Italian Space Agency get-togethers in 2001 - at least one of which was also attended by SISMI agent Marco Mancini of Abu Omar kidnapping fame) - is a prominent Guzzanti-appointed consultant for it.

In fact I think he could be described as its pet consultant on luridly nuclear Soviet misdeeds? - Just look at some of the "info" - in addition of course to "Romano Prodi was a KGB agent" - he's been instrumental in providing:

http://www.eurotrib.com/?op=displaystor ... /20439/209

I mistakenly named Senator Paolo Guzzanti's son "Paolo." His real name is Corrado. Corrado presently has a film out called "Fascists on Mars." My apologies to Corrado for the lapsus.

[Sweejak]

Polonium210? This company will send you some for $69

http://www.unitednuclear.com/isotopes.htm

Collect them all.

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

Unbelievable. Is that 'business' a sting site or something? A justification for internet police perhaps?

If you're looking for a clean, accurate, certified radiation sources, here they are...

No NRC license required!
All our radioactive isotopes are legal to purchase & own by the general public.

To ensure the longest half-life possible, we do NOT keep isotopes in stock.
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shipped directly to you from the NRC licensed isotope manufacturer.

- SORRY, NO INTERNATIONAL SALES OF RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES -
We can only ship isotopes to addresses within the United States.

"Produced fresh in a Nuclear Reactor and shipped directly to you..."

Radiation Awareness Campaign News:

Recall from my above post that a Pakistani journalist is telling Americans that Russian 'suit-case nukes' have been smuggled into the US from Mexico.

Well, the LATimes 11/19/06 Sunday edition's front page is about
>uranium cancers and
>Mexican tunnels as seperate but juxtaposed stories.

The LATimes front page begins a four-part series on the uranium poisoning of Navajos who suffer many radiation-induced cancers due to the WWII-era mines all over their lands and even living in homes constructed with radioactive cement.

There are even maps showing where the uranium mines are with a picture of a hand holding uranium ore. Real enough for ya?

[url]http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-navajo19nov19,1,4865021,full.story
[/url]

That LATimes front page also has a story about smuggling tunnels from Mexico into Arizona.

[url]http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/local/~3/51267812/la-me-tunnel19nov19,1,2562851.story
[/url]
Front page, multi-pages, ongoing series. COINCIDENCE? I think not.

Fear of nukes or dirty bomb radiation is now being re-marketed to Americans by the Operation Mockingbird press.

[Iroquois]

Radiation traces found in Berezovsky office

By Ben Hall in London

Published: November 27 2006 21:07 | Last updated: November 27 2006 21:07

Traces of the radioactive substance believed to have killed a former Russian spy in London last week have been found in an office belonging to Boris Berezovsky, the former oligarch, and several other locations in the capital, it emerged on Monday.

Police investigating the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko are understood to have detected the substance in Mr Berezovksy’s office in Down Street, Mayfair.

A spokesman for the multi-millionaire exile said Mr Litvinenko had visited Mr Berezovsky’s office within hours of a lunch on November 1 when he is thought to have ingested a deadly dose of Polonium 210.

Mr Berezovsky was a close associate of the former spy, visiting him several times on his death-bed and lending public relations advice. The two men, who were both staunch critics of Russian president Vladimir Putin, were close associates.

John Reid, the UK home secretary, on Monday told parliament in an emergency statement that traces of the substance had been found at several premises in London, including Mr Litvinenko’s home and a sushi bar and hotel he visited on November 1.

Mr Reid said 500 people who had contacted a helpline with concerns about radiation exposure, “fewer than five” had undergone tests. But there was little cause for public alarm because the substance had a radioactive range of “a few centimetres at most”.

He refused to comment on suggestions that Russian authorities might have been involved in Mr Litvinenko’s death.

David Davis, home affairs spokesman for the opposition Conservatives, agreed it was too early to know the circumstances of the death but he said the discovery of a synthetic radioactive material raised “the question of whether the Russian state was involved”.

Peter Hain, a member of the cabinet, on Sunday suggested the Kremlin might have had some role in the case.

Mr Reid said the Russian ambassador to the UK had indicated his government would fully co-operate with the Scotland Yard probe.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

URL: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1b3fa168-7e59-1 ... e2340.html

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Was_f ... _1126.html
Was former KGB agent murdered over false-flag terrorism within Russia?

Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Sunday November 26, 2006

Were a Russian journalist and an ex-KGB officer murdered over an investigation of the Beslan terrorist attack?

Former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who passed away late last week from what many intelligence officials have indicated they believe to be a state-sponsored assassination, was likely the victim of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR), well-placed sources tell RAW STORY.

Specifically, two former Cold War CIA officers, who still on occasion provide consulting work for the CIA, point to the S Directorate of SVR, which is in charge of black operations and other allegedly highly illegal transnational activities. They believe that the murders are closely tied to terrorist activities within Russia, and likely do involve Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning from a rare and highly concentrated isotope, polonium-210. It is alleged that prior to the poisoning he had been in receipt of documents that were also in the possession of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya when she was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in her Moscow apartment building in October of this year.

"They put a contract out on her," said one former high-ranking CIA officer with expertise in the region, "and there was already a failed poisoning attempt."

"They had her shot," that source explains, "in order to send a message to other Russian journalists to back off reporting on the Russian bombings."

The Alleged Russian False Flag Bombings

Although none of the sources interviewed for this article were able to say too much regarding what is an ongoing investigation into the two murders, several former intelligence sources pointed to alleged false-flag bombings that were carried out in Russia starting in 1999.

A false-flag operation is one in which an attack is carried out by one government or entity and made to seem the work of another. In modern times, the term has become synonymous with Operation Gladio, a series of false-flag bombings inflicted on Italy by certain far right members of elements in the government and military, the aim of which was to frame opposition parties in order to discredit them, as well as to force that nation as a whole to move politically right of center. This method was known as the Strategy of Tension.

The Russian bombings bear all the hallmarks of such operations, including the most well-known of these bombings, in which a car bomb was detonated in front of an apartment building in the city of Buynaksk that served as military housing for Russian soldiers, killing more than sixty residents. The attack was blamed on Chechen separatists and was used to justify attacks on suspected Chechen sympathizers and alleged co-conspirators, as well as on Chechnya itself. Other bombings soon followed, leading to then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declaring war on the separatist region, which had gained de facto independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

But it was not until the failed Rayzan bombing attempt that the suspected role of the Russian government in the bombings began to be alleged publicly. In mid-1999, a group of agents of the Russian Federal Security Service, or Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (FSB), were found placing explosives at an apartment complex in the city of Rayzan. The FSB is the Russian equivalent of the FBI, and it and the SVR are the two arms of what used to be known as the KGB. The materials used in this incident were similar to those found at the other bombings committed throughout 1999, but th FSB denied any involvement in the previous terrorist attacks and described the Rayzan bombing plot as a domestic counter-terrorism exercise.

The Russian Duma -- the lower house of the Federal Assembly -- attempted to investigate the bombings, but the Kremlin would not cooperate or provide requested documentation.

What was Anna Politkovskaya working on?

At the time of the alleged attempt to poison Anna Politkovskaya, the reporter was en route to the city of Beslan, the site of an infamous elementary school hostage crisis of September 2004, a three day stand-off between alleged Chechen terrorists and Russian domestic security forces that left 344 people dead, more than half of them children.

A source in one of the Western European intelligence organizations suggests that "Annas heart never left Beslan," and that up until the moment of her death the journalist was pursuing evidence that might prove "embarrassing to the Kremlin."

RAW STORY has not been able to obtain additional confirmation of this particular allegation, or greater clarity on what the Kremlin might view as embarrassing with regard to Beslan. There have, however, been allegations of censorship of information and stalling by the Kremlin to avoid investigating the massacre, including outright claims of criminal incompetence.

Whatever it was that Politkovskaya was working on eventually landed in the lap of Alex Litvinenko -- or at least was supposed to on the day he was poisoned.

Who Killed Alex Litvinenko?

One of the CIA officers RAW STORY spoke with for this article suggested that whoever carried out the Litvinenko murder would have required the backing of a state sponsor, because only a government would have access to something as rare and difficult to obtain as polonium-210. The highly powerful and radioactive isotope has a half-life of fewer than 140 days.

Another former CIA officer (who sometimes currently serves as a CIA consultant) alleged that whoever carried out the attack must actually have been doing it on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and was either an agent of or working directly for the S Directorate of SVR.

"They never thought anyone would identify the poison," said this source. "but the Brits were very good."

Reports have Litvinenko meeting with several individuals on November 1 -- the day on which he became ill -- including a meeting that afternoon at a sushi bar with Mario Scaramella, his contact regarding the Politkovskaya murder. Some have indicated that they believe that a meeting at a London hotel with two Russian friends that same morning may have been where he was poisoned.

There is also an allegation that the murder may have taken place when Litvinenko had tea at the apartment of a friend prior to proceeding to the sushi restaurant. According to the BBC, Oleg Gordievsky -- who is a former KGB colleague of Litvinenko, like him a defector to the UK, and the author of a book blaming FSB agents for the 1999 bombings -- pointed to a Russian friend with whom Litvinenko had a meeting earlier in the day. "He told the BBC he believed Mr. Litvinenko was poisoned when he drank a cup of tea at the flat of an old Russian friend -- before the lunchtime meeting at the sushi restaurant."

However, one British intelligence officer, who wished to remain anonymous given that the investigation is still ongoing, suggested a different possibility. "You should start," says this source, "with the Italian." The Italian in question is Mario Scaramella, the contact whom Litvinenko met at the sushi bar to discuss the case of Anna Politkovskaya.

Scaramella, an expert on the former Soviet Union, does indeed appear to have both a relationship with the Russian FSB and some knowledge of radioactive materials. According to an account by BBC International Monitoring, originally from an Italian source, in 2004 Scaramella brought to the attention of Italian police an attempt to smuggle highly enriched uranium into Italy:

"During the month of September 2004 I was approached by a Ukrainian national, whom I know by the name of Sasha, who wanted to sell me a briefcase containing radioactive material, and, more precisely, uranium for military use." There is enough testimony by Giovanni Guidi, a Rimini businessman, and by other defendants - Giorgio Gregoretti, Elmo Olivieri and Giuseppe Genghini - to fuel a spy story [preceding two words published in English] worthy of a novel by Le Carre. Involved is a briefcase containing five kilos of highly enriched uranium, half of which would be enough to build an atomic device, which remained for months in a Rimini garage. A briefcase, however, which eluded investigators, and which managed to get back into the hands of the Ukrainian national, who perhaps is still in Italy. Together with another briefcase having a similar content, and a third believed to conceal a tracking system. The entire kit geared to the assembly of a small tactical atomic bomb.

A mystery story fuelled by information supplied the Rimini police department by a consultant of the Mitrokhin committee, Mario Scaramella, who, acting on behalf of the agency presided over by Paolo Guzzanti, was trying to track illegal funds from the former USSR that had transited through [the Republic of] San Marino.
Scaramella is also said to have connections to the deputy chief of the FSB, Viktor Komogorov, who is alleged by Chechen sources to have been conducting an internal FSB investigation of Litvinenko..

One CIA officer also suggested an outsourcing to non-Russian agents, indicating that, "this would give Putin plausible denial," in the event the plot was uncovered,. "Perhaps," the source joked, "Gladio has not been dismantled, but simply privatized."

[Gouda]

Wow, I'm shocked Larisa. The CIA blames the KGB.

What bothers me about Larisa's article is that while she does the reading public the great service of explaining a "false flag" operation and Gladio, she re-frames it, with the help of CIA insiders ("two former Cold War CIA officers, who still on occasion provide consulting work for the CIA," - indeed!) as a Russian thing, termed: "Russian False Flag Bombings," which bear all the hallmarks of such. Sure they do, but not even Raw Story would insinuate such ever happening in the USA by the US Gov or on behalf of it carried out by related elements, say, like privatized former CIA officers.

I am not defending Russia or Putin here, he is scum, he has used false flags, and as I've said earlier in this thread, he probably had such plans up his sleeve anyway, but was pre-empted. This article, however, is a re-framing aiding in Russia's framing. Larisa lets the CIA formers inform her article that the murder was Putin-backed/SVR-implemented. (Does Raw Story want to morph into the NYT?)

One of the CIA officers RAW STORY spoke with for this article suggested that whoever carried out the Litvinenko murder would have required the backing of a state sponsor, because only a government would have access to something as rare and difficult to obtain as polonium-210. The highly powerful and radioactive isotope has a half-life of fewer than 140 days.

More disinfo. See free market advert above. And never mind the spook-inundated black market.

...several former intelligence sources pointed to alleged false-flag bombings that were carried out in Russia starting in 1999.

Those formers.

Also some current employees help us think about this:

One CIA officer also suggested an outsourcing to non-Russian agents, indicating that, "this would give Putin plausible denial," in the event the plot was uncovered,. "Perhaps," the source joked, "Gladio has not been dismantled, but simply privatized."

Those CIA jokesters. Really really plausible denial actually. Curious spin, there. Does he/she mean we should think that Russia designed and directed Gladio but now has privatized it? Surely such things have been privatized, but the misdirection away from US/NATO historical and present day culpability is classic - a perfect example of a statement that is 90% true with a poison 10%.

Not a fucking word about the FACT that the USA and CIA and NATO and other fascists were behind Gladio. And it also directs our attention away from the USA to Russia as the key player in the underground nuke trade. Both are, and Raw Story needs to shed some light on the US role and history and stop relying on pure disinfo from the CIA.

[Sweejak]

Larisa has a habit of omissions. I find her work suspicious.

Anyway:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/2 ... pgq1g2.htm

police spokesman told AFP on Tuesday that traces of polonium 210 had been found at an address on Grosvenor Street in the up-scale neighbourhood of Mayfair, and another on Down Street in west London, which Litvinenko's friend Alexander Goldfarb confirmed was Berezovsky's office.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the address on Grosvenor Street was the office of the private security firm Erinys.

[Sweejak]

FYI

San Francisco Chronicle
November 28, 2006

United Nuclear is run by Bob Lazar, who attracted national attention when he claimed to have worked on crashed alien spaceships at a U.S. military base in Nevada called Area 51. In May, the Albuquerque Journal reported that agents from the U.S. Department of Justice raided Lazar's firm in 2003. Lazar claimed that federal government officials wanted his firm to stop selling chemicals that they said could be used to make explosives, the paper reported.

A woman at Lazar's company, who identified herself only as "Michelle," said the firm sells polonium-210 in "small, small, minuscule" amounts ... What we carry is so small you can't see it with your naked eye." She said she is only an employee at the firm and doesn't know where Lazar obtains the polonium-210.

Lazar couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

With the Operation Mockingbird Press putting disnfo artist Bob Lazar's 'United Nuclear' INTERNET business allegedly selling deadly polonium on its front page, we have the third leg of this cross-marketed psycho-political event-
discrediting the internet with the hottest button of all, radiation.

The SF Chronicle has this country's 11th largest circulation and thus qualifies as a state-controlled propaganda organ.
The LATimes is doing a series on uranium mines poisoning Navajos.
The LATimes has a long history of spook influence and regularly carries Council on Foreign Relations columnists of the Heritage Foundation ilk.

So the polonium hit:
1) badjacketed Putin/Russia as he sends missiles to Iran
2) recharged dirty bomb fear with the help of the bin-Laden disinfo 'reporter' Hamid Nir
3) badjacketed the internet as a 'terrorist device' working for the 'Axis of Evil.'

Hey, America.....BOO!

[Gouda]

The nuke underworld, not surprisingly, is rearing its head in this. As are the old gladio-like ties to Italy, SISMI, the spectre of false-flags etc. Where's Ledeen.

I am starting to think Putin will have the last laugh in this one as the anti-putin operatives immolate themselves in webs of their own spinning.

Mystery over Livinenko death deepens with new allegations
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Mystery_o ... 92006.html

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday November 29, 2006

London/Rome- The mystery of the death from radioactive poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko deepened further amid reports Wednesday that the ex-agent had himself been involved in smuggling nuclear material prior to his defection to Britain in 2000. The Independent newspaper reported Wednesday that Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact who met Litivineko in London on the day he fell ill, told them of the alleged smuggling operations.

(...)

The probe relates to claims made by Scaramella that Ukrainian mobsters, acting with the complicity of al-Qaeda terrorists, had made an attempt on his life and that of a high-profile Italian politician by using Russian-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

The police, acting on information provided by Scaramella, eventually found two such grenades in a Ukrainian van in central Italy. But magistrates now suspect he may have planted the weapons himself.

La Repubblica describes Scaramella as a braggart who took part in a number of shady deals involving, among others, the former head of Italy's military intelligence agency, Niccolo Pollari.

[Sweejak]

Data Dump:

'Poisoned' spy case: focus turns to mysterious Italian contact
AFP
By Phil Hazlewood

"When I talked to Alexander around 12 November about who poisoned him, we were talking only about the Italian guy Mario," Yuri Felshtinsky, co-author of Litvinenko's book "Blowing Up Russia: The Terror From Within" told The Sun newspaper.

"He was sure at this time it was Mario. He was telling me that he was in a scheme,"

Scaramella has denied any involvement in the poisoning and said the meeting was to discuss an alleged Russian secret services "hit list" on which both their names featured.

He is being treated by police as a witness and has vowed to do all he can to help them get to the bottom of the mystery.

Wednesday's Independent newspaper quoted Scaramella as saying Litvinenko had told him he had masterminded the transfer of radioactive material to Zurich in 2000 for his former Kremlin paymasters.

The operation would have been one of the last Litvinenko carried out while still an officer for Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB), the successor to the KGB, before his flight to Britain later that year, the newspaper added.
=====================


The Independent
November 29, 2006
Litvinenko 'smuggled nuclear material'
By Cahal Milmo, Peter Popham and Jason Bennetto

Mr Scaramella, an academic and examining magistrate based in Rome and Naples, had been due to meet Mr Litvinenko on 10 November in London, but brought the meeting forward at short notice on 1 November. The Itsu restaurant in Piccadilly, where traces of polonium-210 have been found, is thought to be the first location visited by Mr Litvinenko on 1 November.

Later he met two Russian business associates at a Mayfair hotel and visited the nearby offices of Mr Berezovsky and a security firm, where polonium traces have also been found. Last night police confirmed that they were searching the five-star Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair as well as an office building in the West End.

Mr Scaramella has denied any involvement in his friend's death and derided suggestions that he was himself a Russian agent.He claims that he has long been involved in investigating the smuggling of radioactive material by the KGB and its successors. He claimed last year that Soviet destroyers had laid 20 nuclear torpedoes in the Bay of Naples in 1970, where they remain.

======================

No Sense For Russian Secret Services To Kill Litvinenko - Ivanov

MOSCOW, November 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Vice-Premier and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has ruled out the possible involvement of Russian secret services in the death of Jmigr J Alexander Litvinenko, a former staff member of the Federal Security Service.

"I rule out this possibility, as this is senseless," Ivanov, a former officer of the Federal Security Service, said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. The interview was posted on the Russian Defense Ministry website on Tuesday.

"Certainly, I was not acquainted with Litvinenko. Thanks God, I have no acquaintances of the kind. But I heard that he worked for the Federal Security Service's department on organized crime. The crime rate .125in Russia.375 was much higher then that it is now," Ivanov said.

The minister disagreed with the interviewer's opinion that murders are not solved in Russia. "In fact, some crimes are solved," he said, referring to the murders of State Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova and First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Central Bank Andrei Kozlov. "The perpetrators are arrested," yet the organizers are still to be identified, he said.

"The scum who perpetrate or even so organize such crimes take precautions against being caught," Ivanov said.

As for claims that the murder of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was related to the insufficient freedom of press in Russia, he said, "Russia has about 3,000 newspapers and no less than a half of them are opposition-minded. Yet nothing criminal happens."

Russia can hardly develop within a few years "the freedom and democracy, which shaped up in your countries during centuries," Ivanov said. "Anyway, our television will not be similar with the West European one. Russia is an original country, which has its own traditions and culture."

================
Snip:

Back in mid 1980s I was involved with the Jamestown Foundation of Washington DC that had patronized many defectors from the Soviet-bloc countries. At the time, I had been employed by the Voice of America and had been pursuing my own research project <Soviet VS American mentalities>. As a failed defector and former political prisoner myself, I was patronized by the Jamestown Foundation and knew a number of defectors. Among them: a KGB major Stanislav Levchenko, MIG-25 pilot Viktor Belenko, the number two man at the United Nations Arkady Shevchenko, Polish ambassador to Britain Rurarz, former Czech intelligence officer Lawrence Martin-Bittman, and many others. I had a chance to interview several of them. My particular interest was the problems of defectors’ adaptation to a radically different culture. Back in the KGB camp, I had met and was puzzled by a number of cases when successful defectors to the West had returned to the USSR knowing too well that they would end up in the GULAG. Obviously, there was something in their mentality that was stronger than fear and ideology, and I was determined to find out what it was.

Defectors were the men of mission. Not only we hated the KGB and the communist regimes, but we were the willing and active participants in the war of ideologies. All of us had led active life with speaking engagements, radio and TV interviews. The Jamestown Foundation itself operated openly, selling our stories and views. Naturally, we were mindful of possible retribution from the “long hand of Moscow”, perhaps even paranoid. Yet, there was not a single proven case of attempt on anybody’s life. For a powerful institution as the KGB, we were sitting ducks, yet for some reason it didn’t bother to teach us a lesson or two to discourage the future Shevchenkos. The going explanation among us had been: The KGB had abandoned the practice of abducting and killing “the traitors” in the late 50s. One had to believe them, after all some of them were former agents themselves.

Now, the Litvinenko case. Is it possible that the FSB (the KGB successor) would reactivate the long abandoned practice? Hardly. Killing him for being a critic of Putin? Ridiculous, considering how many bitter and relatively well known critics are around. To revenge for the betrayal and disclosure of Moscow apartment bombings plot? But the story is totally implausible, and why wait for six years until he gets British citizenship? To sabotage his investigation of Politkovskaya's death? But it only started, what’s the rush?

No matter how you look at the Litvinenko case, to me it doesn’t look as an institutional affair at all.

Dmitry Mikheyev is lecturer on leadership and management at the Academy of National Economy, Moscow

==============
Rossiyskaya Gazeta [Government Paper]
November 28, 2006
Article by Timofey Borisov under "The Real Reason" rubric: "Who Was Being Hampered by Litvinenko. Theories for Death of Ex-FSB Lieutenant Colonel Are Connected One Way or Another With Berezovskiy"

Of course, the traitor's liquidation by the Russian special services cannot be ruled out as one of the theories. Admittedly, it has big defects and may also be entirely false.

Such a picture is typical for any secrets to which secret agents -- not necessarily Russian ones -- are privy. The history of the world's special services is full of examples of the way in which such sensational details have come to light with the passage of time in respect of sensational political assassinations in the past that you could do nothing but marvel at what cunning scenarios for carrying them out, subsequently concealing them, and leading the threads of the investigation and the suspicions along a false trail were undertaken by those who authored attempts on people's lives.

The theory that Litvinenko was poisoned by his former colleagues is logical, coherent, and beautiful, but this is where its great vulnerability lies. What kind of secrets of special services are they if a journalist finds out about them so easily? From my Chechen experience I know of examples where anyone who felt like it would contest the laurels for annihilated gunmen, and as a result people who were not involved would be rewarded.

There is further doubt that Litvinenko followed the path taken by Khattab through the will of the special services. As is known, Khattab was poisoned with the help of a letter delivered by courier to him from Baku, supposedly from Arab shaykhs. This was admitted on television soon after Khattab's death by a high-ranking figure, who, incidentally, not only gave away the secret of a top-secret special operation but also got the agent into a lot of trouble. The courier Ibragim, who had delivered the letter to Khattab, was tracked down and killed by Khattab's associates right after being exposed on television. In addition, Maskhadov and Basayev, who might have followed Khattab down the same path, became cautious, and no one would agree anymore to carry poisoned letters to them for any money. Therefore the theory that Litvinenko was poisoned with the help of a letter is very dubious. In addition, the former lieutenant colonel at once suffered total hair loss after being poisoned, whereas Khattab, to judge from documentary filming, was buried with a full head of hair by Elsi, his bodyguard.

Admittedly, all the aforesaid refutes only part of the theory that the special services were involved. The truth, as is said in a popular serial, may be out there. The theories may be even very exotic, right down to joint actions by people from the Russian special services and fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovskiy.

This theory is by no means the most fantastical, considering that Boris Abramovich always had good links with a number of staffers from the Lubyanka. In 1999 he was able to "put on a film" on such a scale, with a masquerade and a news conference by supposedly repentant chekists headed by the aforesaid Litvinenko. After the show, which he had stage-managed, one of the most powerful combat directorates of the FSB (Federal Security Service), the legendary URPO (Directorate for Studying and Suppressing the Activities of Organized Crime Formations) -- the subdepartment which tackled organized crime -- was disbanded. So it is perfectly in keeping with Boris Abramovich's style to remove one of his former associates, whom Berezovskiy did not need and who, moreover, was guarding secrets dangerous to the fugitive oligarch. Who would say that this is not his hallmark -- to disguise a crime, arousing suspicion that the FSB was involved? Could Berezovskiy have made use of his former secret "birch mushrooms" ("podberezoviki," i.e. supporters of Berezovskiy), who were schooled at the Lubyanka, to operate like the special services? It has to be admitted that there is logic in this. By turning in his no longer needed entourage, the oligarch might have been counting on strengthening his rear in Britain so as not to be extradited to the country which oppresses, tortures, and even poisons its opponents.

Thus, the possibility cannot be ruled out that with his death Litvinenko played his last and maybe his best role in a theatrical play with a talented producer. In London Litvinenko had long ago become a burden to his benefactor. Whoever knew Litvinenko will understand me perfectly, for he never had a subtle intellect. The only thing that this truly desperate man could do was smash things up, torture, boldly attack, and frighten -- in short, do everything that the latest slang calls "freaking out." His former colleagues recall that he would always carry two dictating machines in each pocket in order, even during friendly drinking bouts, to take out and show one of the nonworking devices but secretly switch on a second one. This attests to his secretiveness and extreme caution, he would not let any outsider approach him, and this underlines yet again that someone in his immediate entourage may have been involved in the poisoning. Litvinenko was also responsible for such exploits as when he would burst into a commercial office in a mask, holding an armature, in the guise of a bandit, smash all the equipment, beat up everyone there, throw down the armature, and then himself offer the frightened businessmen "protection" against uninvited guests. Trying to get information out of Alla Dudayeva (widow of rebel Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev) while holding a pistol, he almost scared to death the woman with a higher philological education -- for which Aleksandr Valterovich Litvinenko was nicknamed Aleksandr Pistoletych by his own colleagues. All these thuggish talents of his proved useless in London, and Berezovskiy could have had the motive and the opportunity to turn him in to his former colleagues. Hardly anyone doubts that Berezovskiy still has extensive contacts among officers in the Russian power structures and special services. An acquaintance of mine, who once met with Berezovskiy in London, told me that as soon as the conversation turned to the FSB, Boris Abramovich hinted that he still has connections there. Of course, the oligarch may also have been bluffing.

Another theory may also be linked with Berezovskiy but, just the opposite, be directed against him. Thus, British Russia expert Martin McCauley, for example, believes that Litvinenko may have been hit by a "ricochet" while in fact aiming at Berezovskiy. At the same time Boris Abramovich's business partners may have been targeting him (read, mafia infighting), sending him a warning signal by poisoning Litvinenko. These could have been the forces that are trying to intimidate Berezovskiy. Then the attempt on Litvinenko's life could have been a kind of "greeting," a black spot for the oligarch. There may even be more theories, but it has to be admitted that they are all connected in one way or another with Berezovskiy. Whatever nuances and variations are enumerated, one thing is beyond doubt: Litvinenko made his choice and drank up his poison back in 1999, when he betrayed those with whom he had been working. It is possible to remain sitting on two chairs if you know how to reckon many moves ahead and if you are an independent chess piece in your own game or at least not a pawn but an officer in someone else's game. He should not have flirted with demons. Incidentally

According to an ITAR-TASS report, the lively interest of the British press in the subject of the poisoning of Litvinenko is not accidental but is being maintained artificially. Bell Pottinger, a British PR company, has a bearing on the ballyhoo over the poisoning and death of Litvinenko. This company is known to have been used by Boris Berezovskiy, who is now resident in London.

======================

[orz]

Unbelievable. Is that 'business' a sting site or something? A justification for internet police perhaps?

If i didn't know you (well, your internet persona on this board to be precise which is of course a different matter) i'd think you were kidding.

Short answer: No, of course not.

You see, there's this little thing called 'science' that a few folks are interested in...


--- edit - just having a look thru the United Nuclear site... found this interesting page about the US Gov buying up and sitting on the entire country's supply of Potassium Iodine anti-radiation pills - http://www.unitednuclear.com/bureaucrats.htm

[Seamus OBlimey]

I don't know if it's been suggested here yet but maybe the guy was FSB all along, the nine months inside was to establish his credentials and his targets got wind of it?

Simple, I know, but some things are.

[Sweejak]

No time to even read it.

LONDON - Authorities found small traces of radiation on two British Airways 767 jetliners Wednesday, as investigators widened their search for clues into the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15951781/