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YJCMTSU: Police probe claims Litvinenko may have killed himself
Let's see, do I file this under Russia or England?Detectives investigating the death of Alexander Litvinenko were last night examining the possibility that the former spy killed himself to discredit Vladimir Putin. I guess there are some things you need to look into just to make sure you maintain your own credibility. Increasing concerns over the reliability of the Russian dissident's death-bed testimony have prompted police to check every detail of Mr Litvinenko's version of events on 1 November, the day he said he was poisoned. Well, I for one believe he was poisoned. The Russian dissident's death on British soil has triggered an unprecedented investigation headed by Scotland Yard's anti-terror branch and involving forensic experts and nuclear scientists from the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. They are still trawling through hours of CCTV footage and conducting detailed searches of the places he visited on the day he fell ill. That's gotta be fun. Meanwhile, nuclear scientists are frantically trying to establish just how radioactive was the dose of polonium-210 that killed Mr Litvinenko. Traces of the material - powerful enough to trigger a nuclear warhead - were found on tables at the Itsu sushi restaurant in Piccadilly, a London hotel, and his home in Muswell Hill. Radioactive enough to kill someone. It's not important how radioactive it is, it's important to know how much there is in any one spot. But yesterday the Metropolitan Police were still treating Mr Litvinenko's death as an "unexplained death", not as a murder inquiry. One source close to the investigation said: "He was a guy with a colourful past. It's not straightforward." Seems pretty straightforward to me. Officers are working on several theories, including the seemingly implausible possibility that he took his own life. Using Po. Which is rarer than hen's teeth. And has a half-life of about 140 days or so. Hmm. The 43-year-old's death on Thursday evening has led to a health scare, with officials yesterday urging anyone who came into contact with Mr Litvinenko to contact a special helpline. The Health Protection Agency has stressed that the risk is minimal, but has also admitted that this is an "unprecedented" incident. It probably is minimal. It is probably not unprecedented. Detectives are still no nearer to establishing just how Mr Litvinenko, a fierce critic of President Alexander Putin's regime, came to ingest such high doses of polonium. Oh, he just had some in a shoebox somewhere in case he ever wanted to die a miserable death to discredit a sitting Russian The presence of radioactive particles in the restaurant where he ate more than three weeks ago adds weight to theories that the poison could have been sprinkled over his food. Maybe some got put in the salt shaker by accident? Morton makes Pollonium, too, you know. Maybe they should change the packaging so the two products don't resemble each other so much. Some reports in the Russian press have suggested that Mr Litvinenko's death could have been a "martyrdom operation", on the grounds that no state would want to attract the attention of a radioactive poison plot. No state with enough brains not to sell military and nuclear tech to the Iranians, anyway. But British officials warned against assuming that the spy staged his own dramatic demise. I'll try to keep that in mind. One senior source warned: "You have to remember this guy was on his guard 24 hours a day. Normal assassination methods may well not have worked." You could put ricin in a spray bottle, too. Much easier. Posted by: gorb 2006-11-26 |
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