Here Today... Gone To Hell!

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/investigators-trace-ex-spys-last-steps/20061123074409990002


Investigators Trace Ex-Spy's Last Steps
Radioactive Substance That Killed Russian Found at Bar, Restaurant
By TARIQ PANJA, AP

LONDON (Nov. 24) -- A swank hotel where he sipped tea. A sushi bar where he had soup.

Investigators are tracing Alexander Litvinenko's last steps to find out how a rare radioactive substance could have killed the former KGB agent and vociferous critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Radioactive traces have been found at both places in London -- the Millennium Hotel's dimly lit Turner Bar near the U.S. Embassy in Grosvenor Square and the Itsu Sushi restaurant near Piccadilly Circus.

Litvinenko had meetings in both spots before he was taken to the emergency room suffering from stomach pains and nausea.

On the morning of Nov. 1, he went to the hotel to see another ex-KGB spy, Andrei Lugovoy, who was in London to attend a soccer match involving the Russian team CSKA Moscow, and two other men Litvinenko had never met before.

Lugovoy said in Moscow on Friday that he was accompanied by a friend named Dmitry Kovtun and a third man he didn't identify. He told Russian media that Litvinenko discussed a business venture and said he was homesick for Russia.

Friend Alex Goldfarb said Litvinenko reported having a cup of tea during the meeting, but Lugovoy said he didn't recall the former agent either eating or drinking.

Litvinenko's friends said his patriotism coupled with a sense of false protection from his British asylum prompted him to reach out to potential Russian dissenters who might have bolstered allegations that Putin's government was involved in corruption in the spy service.

"Alex was open to approaches from people who said they had information about abuses in Russia," Goldfarb told The Associated Press. "He would meet people without precautions, because he felt as a British citizen he would be protected from falling prey to Russian government forces."

While at the hotel, Litvinenko told the group of his next meeting, Lugovoy said.

Litvinenko had arranged to see a contact who claimed to have information about the slaying of a friend, investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya -- a death that critics of the Russian government have blamed on state security forces.

That meeting was the afternoon of Nov. 1 at Itsu Sushi, a frequent rendezvous spot for Litvinenko and his friend Italian academic Mario Scaramella.

Scaramella said he brought along an e-mail purporting to list emigres to Britain being targeted by Russian agents as well as the identities of Politkovskaya's killers. The academic declined to say who sent the e-mail to him.

Litvinenko ate a bowl of soup before he headed for a table where the two could discuss the secret e-mail, Goldfarb said.

Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen rebel exiled in London and a Putin critic, said he saw Litvinenko after the sushi meal and said the former spy was excited by the meeting. But Goldfarb said that after Litvinenko carefully analyzed the four-page e-mail, he doubted its authenticity.

Hours after the sushi bar meeting, Litvinenko was taken to Barnet General Hospital in north London with stomach pains. His condition gradually worsened over the next two weeks.

In a weakened state, he gave an interview to British Broadcasting Corp.'s Russian Service, saying for the first time that he thought he had been poisoned.

Unable to determine the cause of his illness, doctors transferred Litvinenko to a specialist unit at University College Hospital in central London on Nov. 17.

He died late Thursday, and investigators announced Friday that he had been poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, a rare substance.

"We will trace possible witnesses, examine Litvinenko's movements at relevant times, including when he first became ill and identify people he may have met," said Peter Clarke, head of London's anti-terrorist police.


11/24/2006 11:06:14



This is scary.? What? a terrible way to die.? I always thought death would be quick and fast.? This is cruel.   :no:

This is going to lead to something bad. They all have spys, so I don't know why some are pretending to be shocked. This is a silly thing to get out.

this is a confusing story. the motives are weird and it gonna lead to summat bad

i wanted to be a spy, but i hate my country , actually i hate every country in the world

maybe i'll be  double double double double .... double agent.

It's very troubling for me, as I'm a huge fan of Russia - the country, its history and culture. The Soviet period is a particular fascination for me. I lived in St. Petersburg for four months, and it was really a life-changing experience. Here's a country with a rich history of literature, philosophy, military and scientific achievement throughout the ages... and in the past 100 years, it's been torn apart by both the leftist and rightist extremes of the political spectrum - first the communists from 1917 - 92, and then one of the ugliest off-shoots of capitalism imaginable from the 90s to the present.

Putin's response to this assassination of one of his critics - the blunt, ignorant statement that 'there was no evidence that it was a violent death' or 'a murder', really angers me. In his first term, he was a cautious, IMO skillful politician that did a good job dragging his country out of a recession and restoring some of the international respect that Russia had lost during the Yeltsin years. His second term has been very different - he's become much more of an isolationist, and has routinely abolished some of the democratic reforms brought in during the 90s and late 80s. It's very worrisome. His chilled, unwincing reactions to these recent killings of his critics - Anna Politkovskaya, and now this former spy - scream of his KGB past, to me.

I hope that the UK has the balls to follow up on this murder and trace it right back to the Kremlin or FSB (the modern KGB). While I believe that a Western system will not work for Russia, it would be really sad to see the country veer off-course so early after the collapse of the USSR, and start regressing before Russia finds its own way in the 21st century.

why?

There's actually an update to this story. Three people who came into contact with him are now sick.

Also, British Intel thinks he may have poisoned HIMSELF, but I don't know if that part is in the story below. That comes from a "source" I have....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15917680/

Heres another update:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1242482,00.html

I think that's the original reason why British Intel started investigating his poisoning.... not necesarily to find the culprits, but to find contamination. And considering how many people fly on those BA planes, the sooner the better. Luckily I haven't been on a BA 747 for months.

One report I heard about says that this spy had some rather damning evidence of Putin engaging in pedophilia.  Wrote a pretty lengthy essay on it.  If so, it makes sense that Putin would want him bumped off.

Unfortunately, a larger number of the people in the population than we would be comfortable with, have tendencies towards pedophilia. It isn't until opportunity and/or power comes along, that the thoughts are acted upon. i.e. The Church, the leader of North Korea, etc., etc.

For many years now, The Royal Family in England has been using Clockwork Orange style treatment techniques (which DO work) for members of their family that have these tendencies. They start checking the psych of their family members at a young age, and treat if necesary. Most people who have had these treatments don't even remember it until later in life. In my oppinion anyway...  :hihi:

(http://vichix.wwe-bg.net/images/videos/guns_n_roses-welcome_to_the_jungle-dvdrip-svcd-1988-mva.jpg)

i love Vladimir Putin .
just saying.
alright.
Vladimir Putin is a nice guy.
do not poison me. please.