February 11, 2009 5:41 PM
- Text
London's Better-Than-Bond Spy Story
(CBS)
News analysis by CBSNews.com's Tucker Reals
I had been planning to check out the new Bond movie — until Alexander Litvinenko died. The story has captured the imaginations of every would-be sleuth and conspiracy theorist in this city, and for good reason: It's the real deal.
Poison, murder, mystery, espionage, dossiers (the Brits love dossiers), lots of clues, lots of possible motives, the only thing lacking is a lurid sex angle — sorry, I still haven't found that — yet.
So far, London police haven't called Litvinenko's death a murder. They will. Nobody doubts that the former Russian intelligence agent died of a huge dose of polonium-210, and I'm confident the autopsy set to begin Friday will confirm that.
Traces of the man-made isotope have turned up in at least a dozen spots across this capital city and in several aircraft.
This stuff isn't your everyday household cleaner.
They don't sell seaweed-polonium rolls at the Itsu sushi restaurant where Litvinenko dined the day he fell ill, and you can't get it at drug stores. He was poisoned.
So who done it? Here's a look at the suspects:
Vladimir Putin
Litvinenko himself blamed the very Russian security services from which he defected for his death, or at least a statement he supposedly wrote on his deathbed that was read immediately after his death did.
Motive: When he defected to England, the former spy took up a new life as a full-time Moscow/Kremlin critic. He was investigating the murder of veteran Russian journalist and fellow Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskya, and based on an e-mail given to him by an Italian contact (who I'll get to later), he was about to implicate Putin's henchmen in her shooting.
Opportunity: Getting a hold of some polonium and smuggling it into the U.K., then somehow getting it into Litvinenko is tricky. But Vladimir Putin runs a huge country with all the nuclear technology it could possibly need, lots of money, and a vast network of some of the best trained secret operatives in the world. The resources are there.
But did he do it? Our Moscow bureau chief tells me Litvinenko was little known in Russia before his death, and his opposition work was more a nuisance than a catastrophe for Putin.
Furthermore, being a legal U.K. resident, and given the pressure already brought upon the Kremlin by Politkovskya's murder, Putin had much more to lose in the way of international prestige through Litvinenko's murder than he did from Litvinenko's accusations.
But there is evidence, sort of. The day he got sick, the ex-spy met with two Russian men at a London hotel, one of whom, he told police, he didn't recognize. Could the man have been a Russian agent? Sure he could have.
Then there are the planes. Two aircraft that have recently flown routes between London and Moscow tested positive for traces of polonium-210 and another is grounded in Moscow awaiting tests. Police want to check out at least two more. But the planes also landed at hundred's of other airports before being parked.
And even if it is determined that the chemical was flown into London from Russia, it could easily have been at the request of someone elsewhere … or even an elaborate tactic to confuse investigators.
Boris Berezovsky
Litvinenko's new life in London was funded by another exiled Russian with fierce anti-Kremlin views: Boris Berezovsky.
The billionaire is often referred to as Litvinenko's mentor, and he made his central London office available to the former spy for phone calls and other practical visits. That office is one of the six locations where police found traces of polonium-210.
Motive: Berezovsky made his billions in the '90s when the Russian government privatized lots of industry. Like a handful of others, he bought in, and got very rich — earning himself the title "oligarch." Then the government charged him with fraud and tax evasion and he fled to London, a wanted man.
I had been planning to check out the new Bond movie — until Alexander Litvinenko died. The story has captured the imaginations of every would-be sleuth and conspiracy theorist in this city, and for good reason: It's the real deal.
Poison, murder, mystery, espionage, dossiers (the Brits love dossiers), lots of clues, lots of possible motives, the only thing lacking is a lurid sex angle — sorry, I still haven't found that — yet.
So far, London police haven't called Litvinenko's death a murder. They will. Nobody doubts that the former Russian intelligence agent died of a huge dose of polonium-210, and I'm confident the autopsy set to begin Friday will confirm that.
Traces of the man-made isotope have turned up in at least a dozen spots across this capital city and in several aircraft.
This stuff isn't your everyday household cleaner.
They don't sell seaweed-polonium rolls at the Itsu sushi restaurant where Litvinenko dined the day he fell ill, and you can't get it at drug stores. He was poisoned.
So who done it? Here's a look at the suspects:
Vladimir Putin
Litvinenko himself blamed the very Russian security services from which he defected for his death, or at least a statement he supposedly wrote on his deathbed that was read immediately after his death did.
Motive: When he defected to England, the former spy took up a new life as a full-time Moscow/Kremlin critic. He was investigating the murder of veteran Russian journalist and fellow Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskya, and based on an e-mail given to him by an Italian contact (who I'll get to later), he was about to implicate Putin's henchmen in her shooting.
Opportunity: Getting a hold of some polonium and smuggling it into the U.K., then somehow getting it into Litvinenko is tricky. But Vladimir Putin runs a huge country with all the nuclear technology it could possibly need, lots of money, and a vast network of some of the best trained secret operatives in the world. The resources are there.
But did he do it? Our Moscow bureau chief tells me Litvinenko was little known in Russia before his death, and his opposition work was more a nuisance than a catastrophe for Putin.
Furthermore, being a legal U.K. resident, and given the pressure already brought upon the Kremlin by Politkovskya's murder, Putin had much more to lose in the way of international prestige through Litvinenko's murder than he did from Litvinenko's accusations.
But there is evidence, sort of. The day he got sick, the ex-spy met with two Russian men at a London hotel, one of whom, he told police, he didn't recognize. Could the man have been a Russian agent? Sure he could have.
Then there are the planes. Two aircraft that have recently flown routes between London and Moscow tested positive for traces of polonium-210 and another is grounded in Moscow awaiting tests. Police want to check out at least two more. But the planes also landed at hundred's of other airports before being parked.
And even if it is determined that the chemical was flown into London from Russia, it could easily have been at the request of someone elsewhere … or even an elaborate tactic to confuse investigators.
Boris Berezovsky
Litvinenko's new life in London was funded by another exiled Russian with fierce anti-Kremlin views: Boris Berezovsky.
The billionaire is often referred to as Litvinenko's mentor, and he made his central London office available to the former spy for phone calls and other practical visits. That office is one of the six locations where police found traces of polonium-210.
Motive: Berezovsky made his billions in the '90s when the Russian government privatized lots of industry. Like a handful of others, he bought in, and got very rich — earning himself the title "oligarch." Then the government charged him with fraud and tax evasion and he fled to London, a wanted man.
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Tucker Reals
Tucker Reals is a senior news editor and overnight site editor for CBSNews.com, based at CBS News' London bureau.
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