Ex-Spy Died Of Radioactive Poisoning

Alexander Litvinenko Implicated Russian President In Statement Dictated Before Death

(CBS/AP)  A former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic who blamed a "barbaric and ruthless" Russian President Vladimir Putin for his fatal poisoning had a toxic radioactive substance in his body, the British government said Friday.

In the statement dictated from his deathbed, Alexander Litvinenko accused the Russian leader of having "no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value." In his first public remarks on the allegations, Putin said he deplored the former spy's death but called the statement a political provocation.

The Health Protection Agency said the radioactive element polonium-210, which is extremely hard to detect, had been found in Litvinenko's urine.

Polonium-210 occurs naturally and is present in the environment at very low concentrations, but can represent a radiation hazard if ingested.

"Only a very, very small amount of polonium would need to be ingested to be fatal, but that depends on how pure the polonium is," said Dr. Mike Keir, a radiation protection adviser at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

The agency's chief executive, Pat Troop, said that the high level indicated Litvinenko "would either have to have eaten it, inhaled it or taken it in through a wound."

"We know he had a major dose," she said.

Earlier, Home Secretary John Reid said Litvinenko's death Thursday night was "linked to the presence of a radioactive substance in his body."

Litvinenko, a vociferous critic of the Russian government, suffered heart failure late Thursday after days in intensive care at London's University College Hospital battling a poison that had attacked his bone marrow and destroyed his immune system.

"You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed," Litvinenko said in the statement read by his friend and spokesman Alex Goldfarb. The former spy said "the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life."

Goldfarb said Litvinenko had dictated the statement before he lost consciousness on Tuesday, and signed it in the presence of his wife, Marina.

Litvinenko told police that he believed he had been poisoned on Nov. 1. His hair fell out, his throat became swollen, and his immune and nervous systems were severely damaged.

CBS News Moscow Bureau Chief Beth Knobel reports that although he had been critical of Putin and his government, Litvineko was not widely known until he fell ill.

On the day he first felt sick, Litvinenko said he had two meetings, the first with an unnamed Russian and Andrei Lugovoy, a KGB colleague and bodyguard to former Russian Prime Minster Yegor Gaidar.

He also dined with Italian security expert Mario Scaramella to discuss the October murder of crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Scaramella said he showed Litvinenko an e-mail he received from a source naming Politkovskaya's killers, and naming other targets including Litvinenko and himself.

CBS News located Lugovoy, who said he didn't poison his friend.

"About a year ago, Alexander called me and suggested that we had a meeting next time I was in London," Lugovoy said. "I fly to London quite frequently. He told me he had some business proposals I could find interesting. He told me that he had contacts with a number of British companies who were interested in getting access to the Russian market and who would like to get some consulting services in this connection with an eye to finding partners in Russia."

Lugovoy said he was aware Litvinenko's reputation as a critic of the Russian government, and therefore, "I have always tried not to discuss anything but business with him. And we would usually meet for no longer than an hour, an hour-and-a-half each time I was in London. We would meet, we would go some place, discuss stuff and part."

He said the two met on Nov. 1 at a hotel bar, where they were joined by Lugovoy's business partner Dmitry Kovtun. Later, another business partner, Vyacheslav Sokolenko, as well as Lugovoy's wife and son joined the group. Lugovoy said Litvinenko did not eat anything, but that drinks were ordered.

Lugovoy adds, "Everyone says I met him before his meeting with the Italian. This is not right – I met him after his meeting with the Italian.”

[radiob-2009]

laurieleemoo Things are going well,I hope that you do check out Intrepid.Try to find the original which was just titled Intrepid.I am not familar with the latest updated version.The version I have is about 30 years old.It is a series of revelations about the intel community prior to and subsequentlly following WW2.There are things in it that are pertinent to this story.I know that I have deliberately left some baffling posts at other sites and perhaps this one.It is intentional,the relationship of multiple stories that seem unconnected can be utilized.As the saying goes history repeats the old conceits.Sometimes they can be beneficial if properly exercised.

[laurieleemoo]

first...to alphaa10....this article 2 is not about President Bush nor Iraq....this article is about Russia, the "former KGB" still alive and kicking and Putin, President of the "former KGB" (aka FSB) and Russia. Please stop deluding this conversation about the issue with all your old boring liberal rhetoric.

Second...thanks radiob for the info...I will check it out. How's it going by the way?

Third...to Emhawks.....Please spell out the comparisons between Putin and Cheney. I would say you are far reaching on that one...but lets say have at it....I'm curious on that one.

and last but not least...

Feelfree...what you don't seem to understand is that there are far greater things going on out there that are bigger than anyone one of us....you......me.....or that little old lady unfortunately. I would say this would be one of them. Its a clear sign the KGB is alive and kicking...and a clear sign Russia is truly no longer a democracy. I would say the issue of millions of Russian lives at stake here with what seems to be the fall of Russian democracy is much greater than any one american life.

[feelfree1]

Why is this news?

(part 1)

This man prostituted himself out to one of the most horrific terrorist organizations of all time, the KGB. His activities with this group undoubtedly led to the torture/execution of countless people.

Now, he is dead, almost certainly as a result of past activities in support of the KGB terrorists. Very predictable, and it's hard to feel sorry for this man. His passing almost certainly leaves our world a little bit safer.

[feelfree1]

Why is this news?

(part 2)

This story is nowhere near as newsworthy as the 92-year-old woman who was recently summarily executed by US "law" enforcement officials, in my opinion, and that story did not even receive the same attention is this spy-killing nonsense.

Anything else going on today? For one thing, a US helicopter was reportedly shooting into yet another funeral gathering today, in Iraq. If the American public had any idea how profoundly disgraceful our military and moral defeats have become in Iraq, we would have been out of there a long time ago.

Yet, the Western media continues, instead, to endlessly distract us with sensational pointless stories such as this one. Operation "Distract and Blame" is in full swing among our mainstream press, with a ballooning array of shopping tips and celebrity gossip, and with an increasingly visible and shameless campaign to blame Iraqis and the Iraqi puppet-officials for the unmistakable US inflicted catastrophe and failure in Iraq.

The Western mainstream press has turned into a caricature of itself, now closely resembling the Soviet-era %u201CPravda%u201D of yester-year.

[emhawks]

I think Alexander Litvinenko was murdered. I think his murder was ordered by Putin & carried out by certain members of the FSB. My deepest sympthy to his family & friends.
Death by poisoning has long been a method used by the KGB (now the FSB). So Putin thinks ,"This is not a violent death..."? I disagee. Mr. Litvinenko died a slow, agonzing death; he suffered greatly. He was tortured to death over a period of weeks, while his family watched.
I see many similarities between Vladimir Putin & Richard Cheney. What cold-blooded jackals they both are!

[alphaa10-2009]

newster1 said, "He was an ex KGB SPY, no doubt in that line of work he garnered a LOT of enemies, both foreign and domestic and to put blame on Putin is insane... Maybe he should have found some other safer line of work than SPY..."
---

At some point, earlier with some people than others, an individual realizes his life must count for something. Finding a "safer line of work" becomes exactly the wrong proposition-- at least for those courageous enough to take up the challenge.

How many of us would-- or more honestly-- could do something so courageous as expose a high-level plot to pretext another war on a lie, and not just a lie, but the deaths of hundreds of our own countrymen? Sounds like Iraq, all over again.

[alphaa10-2009]

Thanks, radiobob, I'll look it up.

[radiob-2009]

alphaa10 as I said history repeats the old conceits,read the original INTREPID if you can find it.It is over 30 years old and covers WW2 from a spies perspective.

[radiob-2009]

laurieleemoo I have to make this short but read the book INTREPID and do a google on Kim Philby.History repeats the old conceits.

[alphaa10-2009]

Protest against Bush--

gramto11 said, "Isn't it amazing that Duhbya says 'Dissent is the sign of a healthy democracy' but any protestors anywhere near where he is to speak are either arrested or are put into a spot where he doesn't have to see them? So much for him allowing dissent in OUR country!"
---

We can expect resolution of this issue, because it is such a clear violation of the basic constitutional right of free speech and free assembly. Protestors are prevented from attending a public function to voice (or sign) their views. The key flaws in the Bush rationale are (1) all protest is treated the same, though not all protest is public disturbance, and (2) the basic right of free speech and free assembly is shunted aside to favor a protest-free public appearance for Bush.

But the issue must be brought up by demonstrators who believe their civil rights are violated when they are relocated to a miles-distant protest area ("for their own protection", of course). That demonstration is not far away, if massive public disapproval about Iraq is any indication.

[alphaa10-2009]

Protest against Bush-- 2
As early as 2003, just after the Iraq invasion, Bush visited the airport of a southern city, and a protester held up a sign against the invasion. The sign was neither offensive nor in poor taste, but police told him to take his sign down. When he pointed to those around him carrying welcome signs for Bush, and asked why his sign was treated differently, he was arrested and held in federal custody. For his trouble, he was forced to pay attorneys fees and a fine. This for a single, peaceful sign of protest about Iraq!

Until now, Bush has used that "separate but equal" exclusion of protestors with great success, rarely if ever challenged on its legality. This is not surprising, since for years, none challenged him on legality of NSA spying, either. Protest always must start with a single challenge, whether from a nobody like Rosa Parks or Mr. and Mrs. Middle America.

As for why Bush might praise democracy with the comment about dissent, but fail to honor that principle in his own deeds, the answer is simple-- it is far easier and cheaper to lie, as he has done for most of his public career. It is easier and cheaper to lie, particularly when Bush is not challenged by sign-carrying protestors waiting at American airports or Andrews AFB. With protest silenced or dislocated miles distant, Bush not only will continue to lie, but will make those lies official policy as long as there is no political or personal cost.

[alphaa10-2009]

Protest against Bush-- 3
With a crowd of 10,000 supporters, or his frequent stops to preach to the choir at military bases, Bush official lies and public relations work because some people want to believe only comforting things-- even if they are not true. And to achieve similar ends with the Russian public, Putin himself is given to the same flourishes of rhetoric when it suits his purpose. Both appear to understand how to abuse the public trust and get away with it (for now). As Bush once said of Putin, he liked him and understood him-- and there may be, indeed, a basis for this sympathy. On more than one occasion, Bush has admired (in the abstract, of course) how appealing the idea of dictatorial power seems.

Even more alarming, however, Bush is the individual who, in November, 2005, facing an assembly of party members critical of his NSA spying program, bristled like a teenager caught drinking after curfew-- "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face! It just a GD####! piece of paper!"

Is this figure, who claims to be president of the United States, the same who pledged an oath to "protect, preserve and defend" the document he calls a "GD####! piece of paper"? Of course-- once we understand Bush has no commitment to principle or truth, whatsoever.

[laurieleemoo]

haven't I seen that kind of thing in the movies with the italian mafia----same kind of thing---yes...he was his friend.....oh yeah, well won't people in mafia's kill their own brother. I mean killing a friend...is that not par for the course?

[laurieleemoo]

oh yeah....and I really like how Lugovoy is calling Litvinenko his friend now....yes, that was a nice touch. Very......KGBish, don't ya think?

[laurieleemoo]

okay...well then....I guess Mario Scaramella is next?
Well, Mr. Putin...it seems you have gotten the world's attention now..........people are definitely watching now............

So....will it be so blatant....will it be Mario Scaramella next?

WOW! This *** is actually playing out right before our eyes...just like a movie.

[nothappyatall]

He was an ex KGB SPY, no doubt in that line of work he garnered a LOT of enemies, both foreign and domestic and to put blame on Putin is insane.
Maybe he should have found some other safer line of work than SPY, this is like working for the mafia as a hit man- all you do is build up a resume of 100% enemies all of whom want to see you fry.

[yanomas-2009]

Putin is an evil man and Dangerous psycho.

http://ihatecastro.blogspot.com/

[antoniof123]

We have no one to blame but ourselves. We lost Russia because we were so busy trying to justify a war that was illegal. Thank you again Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, I hope the oil profits and the lost lives were worth it. One good thing you too will die and I hope you will live to see your new world order the one the two of you have helped to create.

[radiob-2009]

Does anyone remember Kim Philby?The KGB mole that infilitrated the M16 and M5? Russia is selling weapons to Iran.Has Russia changed?Has the newly titled KGB really changed.How complicit is Russia in various conflicts throughout the world?Our CIA is not giving us any answers, Why !!!!!

[bob_burd]

If Ernest Hemingway had written a book about the ogre Putin, he would have titled it "The Scum Also Rises".

The serpentine Putin, a dreg of the KGB and the Cold War, has managed to equate the office of the KGB with the highest office of the Soviet Socialist Republic, which Russia still is. This contemptible and evil slimeball has turned the Soviets into an even more object of revulsion on the world stage.

If I was the Head of State of a sovereign nation, I would detest being compelled to meet with scum of his low order and would rather kiss a snake. I'd rather cut my right hand off than shake hands with this sack of dog feces.

Putin says there is no proof he has anything to do with this murder by poison. No wonder; the Soviets perfected this stealthy type of liquidation years ago, and still harbor it for a rainy day in their filthy repertoire of dirty tricks and murder.

Selah