FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Former British Diplomat Craig Murray Debunks Russia Nerve Agent Allegations
March 15, 2018 (EIRNS)—Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray has debunked the allegations about a Russian poison nerve agent on his website, using sources he says he cannot disclose now. However, he charges that “The Novichok Story Is Indeed Another Iraqi WMD Scam,” as the headline of his blog reads.
Basically, the U.K. government is claiming that former Russian GRU turned MI6 double agent Sergei Skripal was killed by “Novichok,” a substance no one has ever seen and whose existence is even doubted, so that if indeed it was used, this would be the first time, and British experts wouldn’t be able to identify it. Furthermore, they should have delivered a sample to the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), of which the U.K. is member.
He summarized his conclusions as follows:
- “ Porton Down [the U.K. government laboratory dealing with chemical weapons] has acknowledged in publications that it has never seen any Russian ‘Novichoks.’ The U.K.
government has absolutely no ‘fingerprint’ information, such as impurities, that could safely attribute any sample to Russia. - “ Until now, neither Porton Down nor the world’s experts at the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were convinced ‘Novichoks’ even exist.
- “ The U.K. is refusing to provide a sample to the OPCW.
- “ ‘Novichoks’ were specifically designed to be able to be manufactured from common ingredients on any scientific bench. The Americans dismantled and studied the facility that allegedly developed them. It is completely untrue only the Russians could make them, if anybody can.
- “The Novichok program was in Uzbekistan, not in Russia. Its legacy was inherited by the Americans during their alliance with [Uzbek President Islam] Karimov, not by the Russians.”
