Ex- Russian spy to get new identity
London: The former Russian double agent and his daughter, who are recovering from a deadly nerve agent poisoning, will be offered new identities and repatriated to the US with the help of the CIA, a media report has claimed.
London, April 8: The former Russian double agent and his daughter, who are recovering in a UK hospital from a deadly nerve agent poisoning, will be offered new identities and repatriated to the US with the help of the CIA, a media report has claimed.
Sergei and Yulia Skripal are said to no longer be in a critical condition at a hospital in Salisbury.
British intelligence officials at MI6 have had discussions with their counterparts in the CIA about resettling the father and daughter, The Sunday Times reported. “They will be offered new identities,” the newspaper quoted a senior figure from the UK political establishment as saying.
Both victims are said to be conscious and ready to help investigators with their inquiries into the nerve agent attack, which the UK believes was masterminded by the Kre- mlin. For Britain to help the pair, a senior police officer is expected to issue the Skripals with a so- called “Osman warning”, a formal notification that intelligence suggests there is a real and immediate “threat to life”.
They could then be placed under a witness protection programme on the basis that the pair hold key evidence about a possible motive for the attack. That could involve moving them to a “safe house” and being given round the clock armed police protection as well as new identities. Security sources told the newspaper that Britain would want to ensure their safety by relocating them with one of the “five eyes” countries, the UK’s intelligencesharing partnership which includes the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. While her 66- yearold father is also awake now, British officials have warned that life for the Skripals “would likely never be the same again” and that they could have injuries that would “require ongoing medical care”.