英首相保證對前俄羅斯間諜被神經毒劑所傷做出“恰當”迴應
British Prime Minister Theresa May is promising an "appropriate" response if it is discovered that Russia is responsible for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter.
"But let's give the police the time and space to actually conduct their investigation," she told ITV news Thursday. "Of course if action needs to be taken, then the do that properly at the right time and on the basis of the best evidence."
Home Secretary Amber Rudd told Parliament "the use of a nerve agent on British soil is a brazen and reckless act. This was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way."
A police official told Britain's Sky News a total of 21 people were injured by the nerve agent released near a shopping center in the southern city of Salisbury. Three people are still in the hospital -- the apparent intended target, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal; his daughter, Yulia; and British policeman Nick Bailey, who came to their aid after he found the two slumped unconscious on an outdoor bench.
Skripal and his daughter were still unconscious and in critical condition as of late Thursday. Bailey was in serious condition, but awake.
Police have been examining security camera footage of the crime scene and are reportedly focusing their attention on a man and woman spotted nearby.
Police have not publicly talked about the nerve agent that poisoned Skripal or who might have been responsible. But suspicions are pointing to Russia.
Skripal served in Russia's military intelligence agency, GRU. He was exchanged in a Cold War-type spy swap in 2010 on the runway at Vienna's airport. After serving four years in prison in Russia for spying for Britain's espionage service, MI6, Skripal was one of four Russian double agents exchanged for 10 Russians expelled from the United States, including Manhattan socialite Anna Chapman.
The incident is drawing comparisons to the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian KGB officer-turned-British intelligence agent and a highly public critic of President Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko died an agonizing death days after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 in a London hotel in 2006. British doctors struggled in that case to identify the substance that killed him.英國首相特蕾莎·梅保證，如果發現俄羅斯幕後策劃了用神經毒劑刺殺前俄羅斯間諜謝爾蓋·斯科利帕和他女兒一事，將做出“恰當的”迴應。
特蕾莎·梅首相星期四告訴獨立電視新聞說：“但是我們應該給警方時間和空間，讓他們完成調查。當然了，如果需要採取行動的話，政府會在正確的時間，以最有力的證據爲基礎採取行動。”
英國內政大臣拉德告訴議會說：“在英國境內使用神經毒劑是肆無忌憚的行爲，是最殘酷最公開的蓄意謀殺。”
警方一位官員告訴英國天空電視臺說，在英國南部索爾茲伯裏鎮一個購物中心附近釋放的神經毒劑共傷及21人，其中3人仍在住院治療，包括襲擊目標前俄羅斯間諜謝爾蓋·斯科利帕、他的女兒尤利婭和在戶外長椅上發現他們不省人事而趕來救助的英國警察貝利。
謝爾蓋·斯科利帕和他女兒星期四晚上依然處於昏迷狀態，貝利雖有意識，但情況危急。
警方檢查了閉路電視圖像，據報道已把目光對準曾出現在附近的一男一女。
警方尚未公開作案使用的神經毒劑和涉案嫌疑人，但是所有疑點都指向俄羅斯。
斯科利帕曾爲俄羅斯軍事情報機構總參情報總局效力，後來爲英國情報機構軍情六處刺探情報，在俄羅斯監獄裏被關了四年。2010年，在一次帶有冷戰風格的交換被捕間諜行動中，斯科利帕在維也納機場的跑道獲釋。俄羅斯釋放了他和另外三名俄羅斯雙料間諜，換回被美國驅逐的10名俄羅斯深層臥底特工，包括曼哈頓社交名媛、外交官之女安娜·查普曼。
這起事件令人聯想起亞歷山大·利特維年科之死。他曾是俄羅斯克格勃特工，後來爲英國情報機構效力。他還高調批評俄羅斯總統普京。2006年，利特維年科在倫敦一家酒店喝了被放入釙-210輻射物質的茶，幾天之後痛苦地死去。英國醫生當時很難查明致死物質。
