Orginally broken by the Sunday Times 2 weeks ago, initially thought to be poisoned by toxic chemical thallium, then not, tabloid photos follow (with crass headlines), radiation poisoning due to unknown capsules develops, then his sad death on Thursday evening, with stinging accusations and state sponsored assassination seen as a highly probable cause of Alexander Litvinenko. All along there have been denials from the Kremlin, titbits of information from acquaintances of the Russian dissident, and British government trying to keep as much distance as possible. Truth is stranger and sharper than fiction, for all involved.
So who did it? No other question seems to matter at the moment. The main culprits proposed so far have been Putin, Chechens, former FSB colleagues, fellow dissidents and suicide. Given his obvious contacts with various underworld and intelligence figures, I believe that it could be none of these and is in fact an unknown individual that he had dealings with, under very covert circumstances.
If this had been a conventional murder, it would be mid level news, but murder by radiation is totally unprecendented ... anywhere. Polonium-210 as a radioactive substance is not easily obtainable. On the wider international relations question, where is Russia heading: assassinations of critics, ongoing wars, sales of missiles to Iran and shifts towards being a fascist state. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2470215,00.html http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005629014
Are we seeing a new threat emerging here? Russia has yet to be fully incorporated in the post Soviet world, and it probably won't. 15 years ago, Russia was still considered a serious threat to international security. Will all the talk of the Middle East as primary zone of conflict, everyone has forgotten that inter-state conflict is still always possible.
Closer to home Litvinenko actually lived in Muswell Hill, where this blog is from.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment