http://www.news. <http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21781248-5006003,00.htm l> com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21781248-5006003,00.html Murder awakes Cold War rivals By Paisley Dodds May 23, 2007 12:00 Article from: The Associated Press
BRITAIN'S move to charge a former KGB bodyguard with murder is stirring fresh hostilities between the Cold War rivals already at odds over growing numbers of foreign spies, diplomatic shenanigans and energy disputes. Andrei Lugovoy is facing murder charges in the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic whose tea was allegedly poisoned with a radioactive substance at a London hotel where he was meeting Lugovoi. Prime Minister Tony Blair's office urged international law to be respected. Russia, however, said a local law prohibiting the extradition of its nationals trumped any international agreement. "Murder is murder; this is a very serious case," Tony Blair's spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. "The manner of the murder was also very serious because of the risks to public health." Radioactive traces were found at a dozen sites across London after Litvinenko's death on November 23, including three hotels, Arsenal's soccer stadium, two planes and a business block used by self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. More than 1,000 people in Britain and abroad were tested for polonium-210 contamination. On his deathbed, the 43-year-old Litvinenko accused President Vladimir Putin of being behind his killing. He had also accused Russian authorities of being behind a deadly 1999 apartment blast and investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya's murder. The Russian government has denied all involvement in Litvinenko's death. A senior US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US intelligence community was just as divided over why Litvinenko was killed, and who may have ordered his slaying. Some intelligence analysts, the official said, think Litvinenko - as well as Politkovskaya who was gunned down in her Moscow apartment house in October - were killed because of their roles as prominent critics of the war in Chechnya. Others think Litvinenko's killing was part of a campaign against the Kremlin's political foes in the run-up to Russia's parliamentary elections in December and the presidential contest in March 2008. Another theory is Litvinenko was the victim of a personal feud. While Russia has changed in many ways since the Soviet era, the official said, the practice of Kremlin watching - of using subtle signs, rather than public statements, to read the intentions of Russian leaders - is still practiced by intelligence analysts. "There is something about Russia, certainly there is this political culture where everything is highly personalised," the official said. "It is just as much of a black box now as it was then." Relations between Britain and Russia have long been sour. Britain has refused to handover Russian exiles, including Boris Berezovsky - once an influential Kremlin insider who fell out with Putin and fled to Britain in 2000 to avoid a money-laundering investigation - and Chechen opposition leader Akhmed Zakayev. It has also complained of growing numbers of Russian spies in Britain. Russia last year passed a law that allowed for security forces to use force abroad against people considered threats. Russia's Federal Security Service, meanwhile, accused four British diplomats of spying after a state-run television report said British diplomats had contacted Russian agents using communications equipment hidden in a fake rock in a Moscow park. "This is the latest wrinkle in our relations," said a British government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. He said he doubted Britain would back down. Britain's ambassador to Russia, Anthony Brenton, has also complained he is being stalked by a pro-Kremlin Russian youth group called Nashi who wanted him to apologise for participating in an opposition conference last year. The most delicate issue, however, is energy. Britain exports oil and gas but depleting supplies have raised concerns about future reliance on the Gulf states and Russia. The EU gets a third of its oil and about 40 per cent of its natural gas from Russia. One fifth of the world's gas reserves are in Russia and are controlled by Gazprom, the giant Russian utility. Gazprom, which already has a minor presence in Britain, is targeting 20 per cent of the domestic gas market by 2015. "It's foolish," said London-based ex-US intelligence officer Bob Ayers. "Russia is becoming a monopoly when it comes to energy supplies in Europe and the last thing you want to do is jeopardise that supply." Lugovoy joined the KGB in 1987 after serving in the Kremlin guard corps. During his time in the KGB he provided security for Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, among others. He also headed a group of guards for Berezovsky, who at that time was deputy head of the Russian Security Council, and later headed the security corps for ORT television, Russia's most widely broadcast channel. He now has a security company and has interests in the production of the Russian drink kvas. "I consider this decision to be political, I did not kill Litvinenko," Lugovoy said. "I have no relation to his death and I can only express a well-founded distrust for the so-called basis of proof collected by British judicial officials." Lugovoy could be tried in Russia, prosecutors said. Litvinenko's widow, Marina, dismissed such a scenario. "Everything that happened, happened here," she said. . <http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=1189140/grpspId=1705323667/msgId =67842/stime=1179910408/nc1=3848604/nc2=3848571/nc3=3848538> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- 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: osint@yahoogroups.com 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. 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