The Litvienko case is very intriguing. One of the most intriguing stories we have seen in a long time. I think its intrigue comes from the fact that it could have major political implications across the globe and impact the overall war on Islamo Fascism. As the readers on this site know (and hash out everyday in the comments) there are two schools of thought: assassination and nuclear accident with contraband material. I won’t rehash the arguments here, but it is amazing that with all the revelations and twists and turns in this case that one of these theories has not been ruled out.

Anyway, to add to the debate today we have the news, now confirmed by his father at his side when he died, that Litvinenko wanted to have a Muslim burial:

Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian intelligence agent poisoned in London, requested before his death that he be buried according to Muslim tradition, his father said in an interview for the Kommersant daily newspaper published Monday. The former agent and critic of the Kremlin expressed the wish as he lay dying in his father’s arms, Valter Litvinenko said.

“He said I want to be buried according to Islamic tradition. I said okay son. It will be as you wish. We already have one Muslim in our family. The important thing is to believe in the Almighty. God is one,” he said in the interview.

Litvinenko and Berezovsky were strident supporters of the Islamists Chechen uprising. And in fact the Chechen Muslims hailed Litvinenko as a martyr when he died late last month – an honor they would not confer on some western infidel. And we need to note that this is the third death in a month asociated with the Chechens – as I posted here. The Chechen angle is still under reported and under appreciated because the Western Europeans have become partial supporters of the Chechen Islamo Fascists, as opposed to their views on Al Qaeda and other Arab Islamist movements. So would a Muslim Litvinenko do everything he could for his Muslim Chechen brothers in their fight against Putin? A serious question which has not yet been explored in the news media.

Update: Well, it seems the Times UK has decided to finally connect the dots:

Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian intelligence agent poisoned in London, is to be buried according to Muslim tradition after converting to Islam on his deathbed.

The spy’s father, Walter Litvinenko, said in an interview published today that his son – who was born an Orthodox Christian but had close links to Islamist rebels in Chechnya – made the request as he lay dying in University College Hospital.

Emphasis mine. Finally we are facing some facts here. – end update

The other strange event today is another in a long line of finger-pointing revelations out of one Alex Goldfarb. He seems to have come up with evidence of another killer. “Goldfarb’ is becoming analogous to desparate alibi production as the man, who speaks for Berezovsky and supposedly Litvinenko, has a trail of revelations which magically map to news stories of the day (sounds like a PR firm at work doesn’t it?). Goldfarb announced the theory the assassination was a hit from Putin. He announced the culprit could have been Scaramella. He magically produced scanned letters from a guy in a Russian jail saying he warned Litvinenko four years ago he was in danger (after four years I would assume the warning was in error). Goldfarb once claimed Litvinenko was in Berezovsky’s office sweating the Polonium and contaminating the offices there, until the timeline did not fit that theory. And now Goldfarb is claiming Litvinenko fingered another person on his deathbed, but hesitated to say anything to authorities because he wanted to lure the killer back to London???

Last night Alex Goldfarb, a close friend of the victim, revealed that on his death bed Mr Litvinenko voiced his suspicions about the former FSB agent. Mr Goldfarb said yesterday that his friend did not want to publicise details of his encounters with Mr Lugovoy and some of his associates, in the hope that he would recover and lure these men back to London when he was better.

Alex is quiet smart actually. I have said one of my issues with the assassination theory is that claim by Litvinenko was held until he passed away. It maximized the PR punch and allowed for the rare event Litvinenko pulled through. Alex has now covered himself somewhat on the charge that withholding Litvinenko’s Putin accusations was not for PR timing, but to allow for the chance to lure Lugovoi back to London. Which seems ridiculous since the man seemed to travel to London a lot. Goldfarb’s alibi dance is one reason I still think Berezovsky is at the center of this and not an innocent victim. Someone is paying him to put out these crazy ideas to the media. Someone who probably cares which way this investigation goes.