http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21146837-954,00.html
Spy used for target practice From correspondents in Moscow and London January 31, 2007 06:30am THEY were the best of the best of Russia's special forces - and they were shooting at Alexander Litvinenko. Images of elite troops using pictures of the murdered former Russian spy for target practice have prompted fresh accusations that the Kremlin is behind his killing. The pictures were taken at a training camp outside Moscow where 90 troops from the Interior Ministry's Vityaz (Hero) brigade were competing to earn the coveted "maroon beret" of the special forces. Footage from the Vityaz training centre, filmed for publicity purposes, shows young soldiers weaving through an obstacle course before a live-fire exercise, in which they pump rounds from revolvers into a photograph of Litvinenko. His face is quickly riddled with 9mm bullet holes. Russia's third most senior politician, Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council, presented the maroon berets to nine successful candidates in the competition last November, six days after Litvinenko was poisoned in London with radioactive polonium-210. "This just proves that Alexander Litvinenko was No1 on the hit list of the Russian security services," said Alexander Goldfarb, a spokesman for Litvinenko's family. "He was their arch-enemy." The training centre is run by former special forces chief Sergei Lysiuk. Mr Lysiuk, a decorated "Hero of Russia", insisted yesterday that his organisation was a private company with no links to the Government. He said he had hosted the training day as a favour to former comrades and did not know it was Litvinenko's image on the firing range. The Kremlin also sought to distance itself from the incident. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov acknowledged that Litvinenko's image "was really used for shooting exercise", but said the centre had no links to the Russian special forces. However, the appearance of the dissident former FSB agent's face on a shooting range used by government troops undermines the Kremlin's efforts to dismiss Litvinenko as an irrelevance. The latest twist in the saga emerged as Moscow and London were locked in an angry feud over the murder inquiry. Sources at Scotland Yard said they were "interested" in the pictures and would seek an explanation from Moscow. Detectives who travelled to Moscow last month were barred by Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika from interviewing FSB officers and officials in other branches of the state security services. Mr Chaika has sent a list of more than 100 people in London that Russian prosecutors want to interrogate. The Prosecutor-General's office argues that there is a link between Litvinenko's death and former Yukos executives whom Moscow wants to prosecute for fraud and tax evasion. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
