UK, allies point to Russia in ex-spy poisoning
LONDON: Britain will hold new emergency talks on Tuesday into the brazen nerve agent poisoning of a Russian former double agent on its soil, after the US and NATO backed London in implicating Moscow in the assassination attempt.
As diplomatic tensions soar, Russia has denied accusations of its involvement in the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in southwest England on March 4.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament it was “highly likely” Moscow was behind the poisoning, giving Russia until the end of Tuesday to answer the accusations, in comments that have stoked speculation Britain could call on its allies to mount a joint response.
Both the United States and NATO issued statements in support of London, as concern mounts over the use of what May described as a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia.
Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain in a critical condition in hospital after being found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Salisbury. Emergency workers in biohazard suits have been deployed in the normally sleepy city, while some 500 people who may have come into minimal contact with the nerve agent were urged to wash clothes and belongings as a precaution.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the British investigation, adding that it was “almost beyond comprehension” that a state would use such a dangerous substance on public streets.
“We agree that those responsible—both those who committed the crime and those who ordered it—must face appropriately serious consequences,” he told reporters.
“We stand in solidarity with our allies in the United Kingdom and will continue to coordinate closely our responses.”
May told British lawmakers that Moscow had previously used the group of nerve agents, known as Novi- chok, had a history of state-sponsored assassinations and viewed defectors such as Skripal as legitimate targets.
“The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal,” she said.
The prime minister added Britain had given Moscow until the end of Tuesday to disclose details of its development of the Novichok nerve agents program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
If there was “no credible response” it will conclude it was “an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the UK”, she warned, and pledged to outline a “full range of measures” in response on Wednesday.
newspaper reported on Tuesday that Britain was consulting allies in NATO about possibly invoking its Article 5 principle of common defense.
MATTIS IN KABUL, SAYS ELEMENTS IN TALIBAN OPEN TO PEACE TALKS
Elements of the Taliban are open to talks with the Afghan government, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday as he arrived in Kabul on an unannounced visit. Mattis flew into the wartorn city two weeks after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani unveiled a plan to open peace talks with the Taliban. The insurgents have so far given no formal response to Kabul’s offer for negotiations, but Mattis said some insurgent leaders have expressed an interest in the discussions. Mattis told reporters aboard a military jet that “it may not be that the whole Taliban comes over in one fell swoop, that would be a bridge too far, but there are elements of the Taliban clearly interested in talking to the Afghan government.” Ghani’s peace plan includes eventually recognizing the Taliban as a political party. The insurgent group has said it is prepared to negotiate, but only with the United States and not with the Kabul government. The Taliban last week described the Afghan government as “illegitimate” and its peace process efforts as “deceptive,” in a statement calling for a boycott of an Islamic scholars’ conference in Jakarta.
TEXAS PACKAGE BOMBS PROBED AS POSSIBLE HATE CRIMES
Two parcel bombs rattled the US city of Austin on Monday ( Tuesday in Manila), 10 days after a similar deadly blast, as Texas police said they were investigating the possibility that the attacks were serial hate crimes. A 17- year- old was killed early on Monday after bringing a package into his home and opening it, while a woman living at the same address was injured. A second explosion later in the morning left an elderly woman in critical condition, after she was injured picking up a package in front of her home, police said. The twin bombings followed an initial blast on March 2, when a 39- year- old man was killed— also after opening a parcel bomb. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told a news conference that they believe that the incidents were related. The Texas governor’s office offered a $ 15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. Investigators have found no evidence so far of a terrorism link, and have yet to establish a definite motive or profile for the bomber, Manley said. Police were considering whether racial hatred was a factor. The police chief said that they have had two victims that were African American and a 75- year- old Hispanic female.