Kremlin points at Berezovsky

[spindrifter]

The Sunday Times November 26, 2006

Mark Franchetti



KREMLIN sources said they did not rule out the possibility that Boris Berezovsky, the exiled Russian oligarch living in London, may have been behind the death of Alexander Litvinenko.
The source was angered by accusations in the press — and in the deathbed statement of the former spy — that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, or the FSB, the country’s security service, had been behind the poisoning.



“At the moment we don’t have any evidence and honestly we don’t know who killed Litvinenko, but one thing is for sure, it was not the Russian state,” said the source. “I don’t believe in coincidences. It seems very strange that Litvinenko’s letter accusing the president of murder should be made public just when Putin is sitting down to an EU summit in Helsinki.

“If you ask the question who had the most to gain from all this, the answer can only be Berezovsky, a man who by his own admission is out on a campaign to discredit Putin and the Kremlin.”

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2472169,00.html

[lapfog_1]

1. I'm sure he has a cyclotron in his basement

and has been manufacturing polonium-210. Not to mention all of the special handling equipment so you don't kill yourself handling the stuff. Plus the knowledge of the exact dosage required to kill someone, but do it slowly.

[Henny Penny]

2. Wow .. maybe he's just into photography?

"Although radioactive, polonium has a few commerical uses. You can buy your own sample of polonium at a photography store. It is part of the special anti-static brushes for dusting off negatives and prints."

http://www.chemtopics.com/elements/o-s/o-sf.htm

Now ... astound us with your knowledge of cyclotrons!

[lapfog_1]

3. Read further about the polonium used in photography brushes...

Here, I'll help:

From wikipedia:
The polonium used in these brushes is sealed and controlled thus minimizing radiation hazards.

Getting Polonium-210 out of these brushes in sufficient quantity to poison someone is unlikely.

It is possible that the person named by the Russians acquired some on the black market. However, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through for even a Russian mafia figure to go to or any other NGO. If the mafia wanted this guy dead, they would have just shot him at some point. Dying or becoming sever ly ill by odd poisons seems to be reserved for critics of Putin who are not located in Russia. His enemies in Russia seem to die or disappear in more standard ways.