25-03-2018, 11:31 AM
Thanks for that Pete. Basically, you're saying what I and many others - including Craig Murray - conclude from that sly form of words "closely related agent" that this could almost be anything in the organophosphate class. The British governments "Russia-did-it" is shown to have no scientific foundation, based on what they have said in the court and published to date.
I also think that Putin's comments that had it been a military grade Novichok, as Theresa May claimed, both Skripal's would be dead in minutes - and many other, if not all, of those other diners in Zizzi restaurant. But, of course, no one will pay the slightest heed to what the Russians say. That's the world we now live in.
Meanwhile, I note the following article in the Indy, which reports a friend, Vladimir Timoshkov, that Sergei Skripal told him in 2012 (yes, 6 years ago) that he had written to Putin to ask permission to return to Russia. I mention this curiosity because a friend of Boris Berezovsky reported years ago that he too had written to Putin asking exactly the same thing and expected a positive answer.
I really can't get my head around what meaning, if anything, this has. I just note it.
I also note that when I conducted research into the killing of Alexander Perepilichnyy in Surrey, the media coverage was pretty much identical to what we have witnessed in the Skripal case, albeit far less low-key. But it was the identical Russia and Putin did it meme, as, in fact, with Litvienenko. But in the case of Berezovsky's death it was ruled a suicide (here). BUt then we have this portrait of Berezovsky by the Indy (here) which paints a somewhat different picture.
Not least though, in 2015, Sergei Sokolov, Berezovsky's head of security, told the Daily Mail that that Berezovsky was about to hand evidence to Putin that revealed a coup plot to overthrow him and that "Western security services" killed the oligarch to prevent that dossier getting into Putin's hands (here). Sokolov goes on to say in this article that Berezovsky had the very best round the clock security and full CCTV at his Mansion in Surrey. But on the night he was suicided all the security guards disappeared and the CCTV was switched off. Sokolov went on to claim that some of these security men had been recruited by MI6 and the CIA. It's worth reading the linked article in full.
Anyway, below is the Indy article that reports that Skripal had asked to return to Russia:
I also think that Putin's comments that had it been a military grade Novichok, as Theresa May claimed, both Skripal's would be dead in minutes - and many other, if not all, of those other diners in Zizzi restaurant. But, of course, no one will pay the slightest heed to what the Russians say. That's the world we now live in.
Meanwhile, I note the following article in the Indy, which reports a friend, Vladimir Timoshkov, that Sergei Skripal told him in 2012 (yes, 6 years ago) that he had written to Putin to ask permission to return to Russia. I mention this curiosity because a friend of Boris Berezovsky reported years ago that he too had written to Putin asking exactly the same thing and expected a positive answer.
I really can't get my head around what meaning, if anything, this has. I just note it.
I also note that when I conducted research into the killing of Alexander Perepilichnyy in Surrey, the media coverage was pretty much identical to what we have witnessed in the Skripal case, albeit far less low-key. But it was the identical Russia and Putin did it meme, as, in fact, with Litvienenko. But in the case of Berezovsky's death it was ruled a suicide (here). BUt then we have this portrait of Berezovsky by the Indy (here) which paints a somewhat different picture.
Not least though, in 2015, Sergei Sokolov, Berezovsky's head of security, told the Daily Mail that that Berezovsky was about to hand evidence to Putin that revealed a coup plot to overthrow him and that "Western security services" killed the oligarch to prevent that dossier getting into Putin's hands (here). Sokolov goes on to say in this article that Berezovsky had the very best round the clock security and full CCTV at his Mansion in Surrey. But on the night he was suicided all the security guards disappeared and the CCTV was switched off. Sokolov went on to claim that some of these security men had been recruited by MI6 and the CIA. It's worth reading the linked article in full.
Anyway, below is the Indy article that reports that Skripal had asked to return to Russia:
Quote:[FONT=&]Poisoned spy Sergei Skripal asked Putin for pardon so he could return to Russia, friend claims[/FONT][FONT=&]
[/FONT][FONT=&]
[FONT=&]Many people shunned him. His classmates felt he had betrayed the Motherland,' says Vladimir Timoshkov[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=&][/FONT][FONT=&][FONT=&]Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal had written to Vladimir Putin asking if he could return to his home country before he was poisoned in Salisbury, a friend has said.
- Saturday 24 March 2018 09:30 GMT
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The former Russian intelligence officer, who came to Britain in 2010 as part of a spy swap, regretted being a double agent and wanted to be pardoned so he could visit his family in Russia, Vladimir Timoshkov told the BBC.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in a critical condition after they were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok on 4 March.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The 66-year-old had been accused of working for MI6 over several years, in particular disclosing the names of several dozen Russian agents working in Europe.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]He was sentenced to 13 years in a high-security prison in August 2006, before being freed in the 2010 deal which saw 10 Russian sleeper agents expelled from the United States.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]According to Mr Timoshkov, his friend, who he had known since school, Mr Skripal did not see himself as a traitor as he had sworn an oath to the Soviet Union.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]"Many people shunned him. His classmates felt he had betrayed the Motherland," he said.
[/FONT]
[URL="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/salisbury-poisoning-russia-diplomats-expelled-europe-eu-france-germany-a8271366.html"][/URL]
- READ MORE
[FONT=&]"In 2012 he called me. We spoke for about half an hour. He called me from London. He denied he was a traitor... [he told me] he wrote to Vladimir Putin asking to be fully pardoned and to be allowed to visit Russia. His mother, brother and other relatives were [in Russia]."
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Kremlin later issued a denial that any such letter was sent to the Russian President.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The attempted assassination sparked a diplomatic crisis between Russia and Britain, which has been supported by its allies in apportioning blame to the Kremlin.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]At least six countries in Europe are understood to be considering the expulsion of Russian spies after the EU took the lead and announced it would recall its ambassador to Moscow.[/FONT][/FONT]
![[Image: merkel-macron-eu.jpg]](http://www.independent.co.uk/s3/files/styles/readmore_card/public/thumbnails/image/2018/03/23/21/merkel-macron-eu.jpg)
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14