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A8 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 10 March 2018

UK military chemical experts aid police in spy poison probe

By JILL LAWLESS to take away a police car.
LONDON (AP) — Dozens of Authorities say there is no
khaki-clad troops trained in risk to the general public
chemical warfare were de- from the attack. Unlike ra-
ployed on the streets of the dioactive poisons, nerve
usually sleepy English city of agents dissipate quickly.
Salisbury on Friday as part Detectives were retracing
of the investigation into the the Skripals' movements as
nerve-agent poisoning of a they try to discover how
former Russian spy and his the toxin was administered
daughter. and where it was manu-
The sight of the soldiers, and factured. Authorities cor-
forensic experts in bright doned off Skripal's house,
yellow hazmat suits, added a car, a restaurant, a pub
to the increasingly surreal and the cemetery where
scenes in a city best known Skripal's wife, Lyudmila, is
for its towering medieval buried and where there is
cathedral and its proximity also a memorial headstone
to the ancient Stonehenge for his son, Alexander.
monument. Lyudmila Skripal died of
Sergei Skripal and his cancer in 2012. Alexander
daughter Yulia, 33, were died last year at the age
found unconscious on a of 43. The cause is unclear:
bench near the River Avon Members of the Falcon Squadron, Royal Tank Regiment, at Winterbourne Gunner, southern Eng- some reports say he died
land, conducting final preparation and training before deploying in support of the civil authorities
in the city on Sunday. They in Salisbury city centre, Friday March 9, 2018. in a car accident while on
remained in critical condi- (Cpl Pete Brown/Ministry of Defence via AP) . holiday in Russia, others
tion in a local hospital Fri- that he died of liver failure.
day, poisoned with what was convicted in 2006 of tives are leading a vast and air force personnel At the graveyard, forensic
authorities say is a rare spying for Britain and re- investigation. One line of with expertise in chemical officers in protective gear
nerve agent. leased by Moscow in 2010 inquiry is whether the pair weapons, decontamina- could be seen erecting a
A police officer who helped as part of a spy swap. The were poisoned at Skripal's tion and logistics to help blue tent on Friday.
investigate was in serious 66-year-old former agent modest suburban house with the probe and to re- One anchorman on a state
condition, and a total of had been living quietly in before going out for Sun- move vehicles that might television news show be-
21 people have received Salisbury, 90 miles (140 kilo- day lunch and a visit to a be contaminated. Military gan a report on Skripal’s
medical treatment. meters) southwest of Lon- pub. vehicles arrived at Salisbury poisoning with a warning
Skripal, a former Russian don. On Friday, police called in District Hospital, where the to anyone considering be-
military intelligence officer, Counterterrorism detec- about 180 marines, soldiers victims are being treated, coming a double agent.q

Tens of thousands protest in Slovakia at journalist's death

By KAREL JANICEK edented slayings of Kuciak
Associated Press and Martina Kusnirova, Slo-
PRAGUE (AP) — Tens of vakia quickly turned from
thousands of Slovaks rallied what seemed to be a sta-
in massive anti-government ble European Union coun-
protests across the coun- try into chaos. In a speech
try on Friday to demand a last month, President An-
thorough investigation of drej Kiska talked about
the slayings of an investiga- his country as "successful,
tive reporter and his fian- proud and self-confident."
cee, and changes in gov- On March 4, however, he
ernment. said Slovakia faces a "seri-
The protesters packed a ous political crisis" triggered
central square in Bratislava by the shooting deaths. Po-
and other rallies were tak- lice said Kuciak's killing was
ing place in dozens of other likely linked to his work.
places in Slovakia as well as The political storm has been
abroad, the biggest since intensifying daily since the
the 1989 Velvet Revolution. bodies were found Feb. 25.
The organizers want foreign Amid heated exchanges
experts to join the team in- People gather on a square during an anti-government rally in Bratislava, Slovakia, Friday, March between the ruling coali-
vestigating the killings and 9, 2018. The country-wide protests demand a thorough investigation into the shooting deaths tion and the opposition,
of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova, whose bodies were found in their home on Feb. 25, and
the creation of "a new trust- changes in the government. claims by Fico of conspira-
worthy government with no (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) cies against him, and his re-
people who are suspected peated verbal attacks on
of corruption" or ties to or- vakia and their ties to peo- scandals. The peaceful protesters Kiska, a growing number of
ganized crime. ple close to Prime Minister "Slovakia is shaken as it has had a message for Fico: people have started to turn
Jan Kuciak's last, unfinished Robert Fico, whose gov- not been for a long time," "Resign," they repeatedly against the Fico govern-
story was about the activi- ernment is allegedly also organizer Karolina Farska chanted. ment, threatening its very
ties of Italian mafia in Slo- linked to other corruption said. In the wake of the unprec- existence.q