Dec 07 2006
Chechen Leader Zakayev Speaks Out: Threatens West
Another surprising outburst today from someone I would have thought would keep a lower profile as the news that the death of newly converted Muslim Litvinenko, who died while coming into contact with massive amounts of a nuclear material which can be used for creating a dirty bomb or in a crude nuclear bomb’s trigger, and who sympathized with the Chechen Islamicists, had turned towards a murder investigation. But apparently Chechen leader in exile, friend and neighbor of Litvinenko, and associate of oligarch Berezovsky feels the need to speak up – and illustrate is potential complicity:
An exiled Kremlin opponent accused the West on Wednesday of standing by passively as Russia passed laws allowing its agents to hunt down opponents overseas, saying these had led directly to the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev, a close friend of Litvinenko, accused Western countries of helping to strengthen a “criminal regime” in Moscow by their failure to stand up to President Vladimir Putin.
In case he hasn’t noticed or people forget, we have the same authority here for Bin Laden and Zawahiri and other Al Qaeda leaders. Just consider it our version of a Fatwah.
The macabre episode has strained relations between London and Moscow, and British police said for the first time on Wednesday they were treating it as a murder investigation.
Zakayev, a Chechen rebel leader whom Russia has tried in vain to extradite from Britain, confirmed he drove Litvinenko in his car on November 1, the same day the former agent fell ill. He said traces of polonium 210, the radioactive poison that killed Litvinenko, had been found several weeks later on the back seat where he sat. But Zakayev himself has tested negative for the substance.
Sadly we do not know when the traces were left and if they represent one trip in the car or more than one. With that said, a reminder of the potential Chechen involvement and their anger at the west, this sounds more like a rationalization about why something may happen to the West, becuase of their complicity with Putin:
“I think responsibility for everything that’s happening today in Russia lies not just with the G8 but all leaders of Western countries, European countries, who one way or another have helped to strengthen and establish this criminal regime in Moscow,” Zakayev said.
“The fact that Russian democracy and freedom of speech has been betrayed — the responsibility for that lies with those who today welcome Putin with outstretched hands and call him a crystal pure democrat.”
He said Western reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies was no excuse for passivity.
“Today Europe doesn’t just get energy from there (Russia). They get polonium 210, they get the dirty bomb, they get dirty money, they get corruption, crime,” Zakayev said.
Dirty Bomb? Why would he say something about a dirty bomb? Zakayev is building a case why Europe should expect to be seen as allies to Putin and Russia from a Chechen perspective. Zakayev is saying that Europe’s purchase of Russian oil brings these things with it. It is like saying these are the prices one must pay for not being pure to Chechen eyes. He is building the case for a a violent take over of Russia, and is calling on sympathetic people to see that action must be talen:
“If today, this country that occupies a sixth of the earth, on whose territory is concentrated tons of bacteriological, chemical and biological weapons, isn’t taken under control and questions aren’t asked about the responsibility of the man in charge and the government, that will be a danger for the whole world.”
What worries me most about this incident right now is the Polonium-210. It’s utility as weapon is severely time constrained. For either a nulcear bomb or a dirty bomb it only has so much shelf live. In a little over four months after it is produced it loses half its potency and is half lead. I would guess (and I am guessing) at that point it is not very useful in a weapon. At 2 months it loses a qarter of its potency. The Litvinenko poisoning was a month ago. This doesn’t leave this batch much more time to be of use to terrorists. If this was an assassin attempt then there is a problem that there could be a large source of Polonium out there somewhere. But that same problem exists if this is all about a smuggling effort for a very dangerous nuclear material. How much was brought into London? We know how much killed Litvinenko – enough to kill 100 people (at a cost of 30 million euro). Obviously that was not all the material given all the contaminated sites. When will the UK discuss this aspect of the situation – the left overs. How can we be sure Litvinenko ingest all the Polonium apparently smuggled in?
I hope they have the place bugged:
Friends and family of poisoned Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko said prayers for him today at a London mosque ahead of his funeral. (They couldn’t bring the body in the mosque as it was too radioactive)
http://www.24dash.com/communities/14053.htm
and: he also claimed Russians used polonium in Chechnya: http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?menu=1&id_issue=11643590 GROZNY. Dec 7 (Interfax) – Separatist emissary Akhmed Zakayev’s claims that federal forces were allegedly using radioactive isotope polonium-210 during the anti-terrorist campaign in Chechnya are wrong and unfounded, Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said in Grozny on Thursday.
“Zakayev is an actor. He can make up any tale. If they have poisoned their associate [Alexander] Litvinenko, they now want to ascribe similar actions to law enforcers in Chechnya,” he said.
“Federal forces have never used poison during the anti-terrorist campaign in the Chechen republic,” Kadyrov said.
Dmitry Kovtun, a business associate of murdered ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, has also been found to have radiation poisoning, the Russian prosecutor general’s office said.
If he’s innocnet and his ftirnd was just horribly murdered, why should he keep a lower profile?
This is not the first time Europeans and Arabs have been angry because the US and the west won’t do anything to help them throw off their oppressors. I don’t know what they think we can do. We certainly can’t sanction a permanent member of the security council. We can’t stop buying their oil because we need it. We can’t interfere in the inner workings of another country especially not one as large as Russia. And goodness knows they don’t want us to invade and fight. Look at how these countries sullked about our going into Iraq and doing everything they could to hinder us. But they keep saying American could help us if they would. We cannot save the world.
I’m worried about a dirty bomb also. And his bringing this subject up now is worrisome. I think there were multiple polonium runs whether from Russia or iran makes no difference. The fact that this stuff came into UK is scary. And it is just a hop, skip and a jump to the US.
You would think this guy would keep a low profile and hope everyone forgot him. But that is not the way of egomaniacs. They must be in the forefront of the news. If I were him I would want to be disassociated with this mess as much as possible.
The half-life worries me, too. Are we looking at a Christmas attack?
Fortunately the FBI and the British counter terrorism group is involved though how good these people are at finding out the real truth and the real danger I have no idea. You’d think they could rummage around in all the secret NSA spying tapes and find out who do it!
I don’t know too much about Zakaev, but I don’t see that he threatened the West in this article. Sounds more like he told the truth–that the Russians have behaved horribly in Chechnya.
Many Chechens are nationalists–not extreme Islamists.
There is a good case to be made that Putin overthrew the nationalists by backing the Islamists to give Russia an excuse to intervene.
I am no expert on Chechnya, but I know that not all the groups fighting the Russians are fighting as terrorists.
Under the late Chechen President Maskhadov, who was elected, there was a nationalist government that the Russians undermined, so Makhadov fought them. But Makhadov didn’t attack civilians, and he supported our invasion of Iraq. He did not set up a fanatical Islamist state.
Now Chechnya has some real nasty terrorists, but the Russians are kidnapping children and teenagers to hold as hostages and people who are not combatants are disappearing there.
I don’t know what Zakaev may be doing behind the scenes, but what he is saying is pretty much how I see it.
The Chechens are fighting because they are horribly opressed. If the Islamists have come out on top, that is because of the stupid things Putin did, I think.
You can find out about Zakaev at http://www.rferl.org
******If he’s innocENt and his fRIEnd was just horribly murdered, why should he keep a lower profile? (I should never post befor having coffee.)
Russia Opens Criminal Casse:Kovtun Ill,:
“MOSCOW – Russia has opened a criminal case in the poisoning death of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, the Prosecutor General’s office said Thursday.
The move would allow suspects to be prosecuted in Russia. Officials previously have said that Russia would not allow the extradition of any suspects in the killing of Litvinenko, who died in London on Nov. 23 and was being buried there Thursday.
The Prosecutor General’s office also said it had opened a criminal investigation into the attempted killing of Dmitry Kovtun, one of at least two Russian businessmen who met Litvinenko in London’s Millennium Hotel on Nov. 1, hours before the former spy fell fatally ill.
A brief statement from the Prosecutor General’s office did not say when the criminal case was opened.
Scotland Yard on Wednesday announced it was treating the death of Litvinenko as a homicide. Traces of highly radioactive polonium-210 were found in his body.”http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061207/ap_on_re_eu/poisoned_spy
Not an investigation into the attempted killing of Lugovoi? Hardly seems fair at all, hopefully it won’t be a Potemkin investigation into the poisoning of the assassin.
Seven workers at the Millenium Hotel (all worked in the bar) have tested positive for PO 210. http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13555814,00.html
I take it that this rather eliminates the sprinkled on his sushi theory.
I think we can say now that this “incident” has the repercussions of a small nuclear dirty bomb going off in London no doubt about it – lots more people are going to be contaminatinge IMO and think of the places with contamination that all these people went to and so on exponentially….this is bigger than they are leading us to believe I think….though probably a lot of people aren’t going to drop dead all at once there’s going to be more cancer at a minimum….a lot of people are going to be ‘terrorized”.
Gaidar has an op-ed in the Financial Times, says that enemies of the Russian government poisoned him (in the tea probably):
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/aacc818a-855b-11db-b12c-0000779e2340.html
Reminder regarding the PO trail – the Sheraton Park Lane has 5 rooms contaminated from Oct. 25
Amazing that they don’t consider Luguvoi “poisoned” but they do consider Kovtun “poisoned” – wonder why?
I think we can eliminate Scaramella as a source (as the Brits obviously have); and suicide as the cause of Litvinenko’s death (also as the Brits have).
Those with the largest degree of contamination appeal to be Lugovoi and his pal and obviously Litvinenko.
Others with smaller degrees of contamination appear to be the 7 bar workers at the Millenium and Scaramella.(I discount that Scaramella received 5X a fatal dose as originally reported for to date he shows no sign of illness and reports are that PO poisoning results in death within 21 days).
Scotland Yard is not the only one to open an inquiry into the Litvenenko case;
So, too, has the Kremlin.
I’ve never seen a Kremlin report, before.
But it should be interesting to watch. Since Putin feels a need to put out a “gum shoe” report, as well. And, while the cast of characters are known to both countries. If you had to guess? Whose report, ahead, will sound more “logical?”
I think I read over the past days that the 5x lethal dose was false. Interesting that the bar workers were contaminated, wonder what shift they worked?
RE: the Russian investigation. My fun hypothesis is that Kovtun is the assassin, so the Russians will naturally investigate Lugovoi… (temporarily forgetting the Po trail associated with Lugovoi).
I don’t see yet how they can rule out a work accident with Lugovoi, Kovton and Litvinenko – If Lugovoi passed it to Litvinenko and Kovton was there and involved then all three would more or less have had an “accident”. Sounds like they made a real mess at the Millenium bar.
WOW News Alert Kovtun is in a coma