Browse content similar to 08/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Appalling and gratuitous violence - a devastating report on the death | :00:04. | :00:10. | |
of an Iraqi civilian held by British troops in Iraq. 36 hours in | :00:10. | :00:15. | |
British custody that left a family without a father. Baha Mousa had 93 | :00:15. | :00:24. | |
separate injuries. It is clearly a truly shocking and appalling | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
incident. It should not have happened. It should never be | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
allowed to happen again. Mousa and others were subjected to | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
banned interrogation methods. The report calls it systemic failure. | :00:34. | :00:44. | |
We hear from a soldier who was there. My personal views are, | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
everybody that was there on that day initially has their own | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
responsibility for his death. Whether you hit him or you did not, | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
you still have your own responsibility for his death. | :00:54. | :00:57. | |
We'll ask what lessons have been learned. $NEWLINE Also tonight: | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
The biggest economies in the world in danger of stagnating - a new | :01:00. | :01:07. | |
warning on growth from leading international economists. Another | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
one just hit the building. Another one hit the World Trade. | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
New audio tapes from 9/11 - first confusion, then the moment they | :01:16. | :01:24. | |
knew it was a terror attack. commander has declared we can shoot | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
down aircraft that do not respond to our direction. Copy? | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
10 years on, New York is on high alert. Fears over what security | :01:32. | :01:38. | |
officials found in Bin Laden's compound. We are worried about | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
something happening on the anniversary of 9/11, because we saw | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
that there was discussion about the ten-year anniversary, the ten-year | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
memorial. Paralympic tickets - Britain aims | :01:51. | :02:01. | |
:02:01. | :02:01. | ||
for a sell-out competition. I will be here with Sportsday later | :02:01. | :02:11. | |
:02:11. | :02:25. | ||
in the hour, including the latest Good evening. | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
The inquiry into the death of Iraqi civilian Baha Moussa while in the | :02:29. | :02:31. | |
custody of the British army has reached the devastating conclusion | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
that he was subjected to "appalling, gratuitous violence". The inquiry's | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
chairman, Sir William Gage, said the death eight years ago pointed | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
to "systemic failure" at the Ministry of Defence - it failed to | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
give clear guidelines about the treatment of prisoners. The Prime | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
Minister described the episode as "truly shocking". In a moment, | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
we'll look at the lessons learned. Our first report from Caroline | :02:54. | :03:04. | |
:03:04. | :03:05. | ||
Hawley contains distressing images. Her father of two, 26-year-old Baha | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
Mousa had 93 separate injuries when he was battered to death in British | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
custody. -- A father of two. This video was filmed the day before he | :03:14. | :03:19. | |
was killed. It was an army major who instructed the soldiers | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
guarding the detainees to use hoods and stress positions which had been | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
banned by the British Government back in 1972. The footage shows | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
corporal Donald Payne shouting obscenities at the Iraqis, among | :03:31. | :03:37. | |
them Baha Mousa. Acts of shocking brutality were to come. My judgment | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
is that they constituted an appalling episode of serious | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
gratuitous violence on civilians, which resulted in the death of one | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
man and injuries to others. They represented a very serious breach | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
of discipline. These pictures show the wounds of surviving detainees. | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
One was left with acute kidney failure. The inquiry found it was a | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
violent assault but triggered Baha Mousa's death, but that he had been | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
made physically vulnerable by hooding in extreme heat and the | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
stress positions. The report blamed their use on a corporate failure at | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
the Ministry of Defence. It said stress positions and hooding were | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
wholly unacceptable in any circumstances. It also found that | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
many soldiers had assaulted the Iraqis. Even more had failed to | :04:26. | :04:32. | |
intervene. There had been, it said, a lack of moral courage. It is | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
clearly a truly shocking and appalling incident. It should not | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
have happened. It should never be allowed to happen again. And the | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
British Army, as it does, should uphold the highest standards. | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
inquiry found that Major Michael people's knew that detainees had | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
been assaulted. He is accused of unacceptable failure. It is said | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
that if Lieutenant Craig Rodgers had acted when he first knew what | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
was happening, Baha Mousa would almost certainly have survived. It | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
found that the decorated commander of the Regiment, Colonel Jorge | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
Mendonca, ought to have known what was going on. And that corporal | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
pain was a violent bully who tried to cover up what he had done. -- | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
corporal Donald Payne. No doubt they are reading the report right | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
now and they will be considering the war crimes of torture, inhumane | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
treatment and submitting people to grossly humiliating behaviour. | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
There are a number of people who have every reason to be very, very | :05:27. | :05:33. | |
worried. Back in the Middle East, a family still grieving. Baha Mousa's | :05:33. | :05:41. | |
father had to identify his son's battered body. In my heart, I love | :05:41. | :05:51. | |
:05:51. | :05:51. | ||
Baha. Baha Mousa's children are now orphans. Today, the former soldier | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
who tried to resuscitate their father expressed his remorse. | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
will never probably be a night that goes by when he is never on my mind. | :06:00. | :06:06. | |
Granted, I have to live with that for the rest of my life. But so has | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
his family. The Baha Mousa is buried in Najaf, Iraq's holiest | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
city. Today's report into his death is a big step towards | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
accountability but the scandal over what happened to him has not yet | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
been laid to rest. The inquiry's chairman said what | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
happened to Baha Mousa had left a great stain on the reputation of | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
the army. We've asked Caroline Wyatt to look at what lessons have | :06:30. | :06:38. | |
been learned in the past eight years. | :06:38. | :06:44. | |
Basra, September 2003. An increasingly hot and hostile place | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
for British troops battling to control the growing insurgency, | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
with soldiers being killed and maimed. But the army and the | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
Government today made clear that none of that excused the brutality | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
laid bare in this inquiry, nor the corporate failing by the MoD to | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
make clear to soldiers what they could and could not do to detainees. | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
Baha Mousa was not a casualty of war. His death occurred as a | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
detainees in British custody. It was avoidable and preventable, and | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
there can be no excuses. While acknowledging that British troops | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
in Basra faced stark challenges, the head of the army, too, so they | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
could be no excuse for the loss of discipline and the lack of moral | :07:26. | :07:31. | |
courage that occurred. -- he said there could be no excuse. It is | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
clear from the inquiry report that we were ill-prepared in 2003 for | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
the task of handling civilian detainees. The army has made | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
strenuous efforts since then to transform the way we train for and | :07:45. | :07:50. | |
conduct detention operations. have to treat everyone you catch a | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
humanely. No exceptions, no IFS, no buts. It amongst the | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
recommendations were an update to this training video for British | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
soldiers on prisoner handling. It came out in 2005 in the wake of | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
Baha Mousa's death. The inquiry also said the MoD must keep in | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
place the ban on hooding and improve training in prisoner | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
handling and interrogation. It also wants to ensure more rapid medical | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
attention for detainees, and the possible civilian inspection of | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
British military prisons abroad. The army insist many of those | :08:23. | :08:27. | |
improvements have already been made. They knew this was going to be a | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
critical report and if you know you are going to be criticised, you | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
review your procedures so that you can say, we do things to from the | :08:33. | :08:38. | |
now. And they do. We will see in due course whether the military | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
really have reformed their system, but I suspect they have and I | :08:41. | :08:51. | |
believe they have. British troops may have lowered the flag over | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
Basra in 2009, but it still casts a long shadow. Today, the army made | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
clear that those named in the report who are still serving have | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
now been suspended. They could face disciplinary action, a fresh court | :09:03. | :09:09. | |
martial, or perhaps even prosecution in a civilian court. | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
The outlook for the world's leading economies is looking even more | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
gloomy and a return to recession cannot be ruled out. That's | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
Development which said some G7 economies are in danger of | :09:20. | :09:26. | |
stagnating. It predicts growth in the UK of less than 1% this year. | :09:26. | :09:36. | |
Stephanie Flanders reports. The closer you examine the world | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
economy, the worse it is starting to look. Today, the OECD added to | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
the gloom with a report that talked of the recovery coming to a halt, | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
of World Trade stagnating, and the risk that unemployment will become | :09:48. | :09:55. | |
entrenched. Time for a Plan B? You might think so. The OECD said | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
countries with credible budget policies can and should respond to | :09:58. | :10:05. | |
the slowdown, but apparently that does not mean the UK. There is now | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
an interaction both on the manufacturing side and a degree of | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
confidence which affects growth negatively and may continue for the | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
next few months. But this does not mean that the efforts of the | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
Government should be changed. Chancellor today met with vice | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
premier of China, which is growing a lot faster than everyone else. -- | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
the vice-premier. In the G7, only Italy has a weaker forecast than | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
Britain over the first half of 2011, but he says that is not due to | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
budget cuts. Countries that pursued frankly completely different | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
policies two hours over the last year - the US had a huge fiscal | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
stimulus - they have not seen markedly more growth than we have | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
in the UK. George Osborne's Decisions a year ago choked off our | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
recovery in Britain even before this latest crisis in the eurozone | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
and in America, which means we are very, very badly exposed indeed now. | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
The economy is flat lining, unemployment is rising. The case | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
for a Global Plan B and a change of course in Britain is growing by the | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
day. The Bank of England today decided not to change policy, and | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
we had the same thing from the European Central Bank in the | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
eurozone. If the news continues to be this gloomy, we may see them | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
give even more emergency support to their economies, but it has been | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
three years since the height of the financial crisis and the collapse | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
of Lehman Brothers. Even the central bankers are starting to | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
worry whether they are running out of ammunition. The head of the ECB | :11:36. | :11:39. | |
was downbeat about European recovery today, and rather | :11:39. | :11:45. | |
defensive about the central bank's handling of the crisis. We are in | :11:45. | :11:53. | |
the worst crisis since World War II. We do our job. It is not an easy | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
job. The job is no easier in the US, where the head of the central bank | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
tonight hinted that he was exploring new tools to help the | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
economy, hours before the President unveiled his plan for jobs. There | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
is no shortage of bad news about the world economy. Solutions are in | :12:12. | :12:18. | |
short supply. Well, that speech by President | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
Obama will be happening in just under two hours time. He will use | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
it to announce a $300 billion spending package aimed at creating | :12:25. | :12:29. | |
new jobs. The address, before a joint session of the US Congress, | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
is seen as crucial to his chances of rebuilding the economy and | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
winning a second term. Mark Mardell reports. | :12:38. | :12:43. | |
He promised hope and change. What he has delivered provokes pessimism. | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
14 million Americans are out of work, the economy seems to be | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
stalled, and the President needs to come up with some solutions. His | :12:49. | :12:54. | |
poll ratings are at an all-time low and still sinking. One this week | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
suggested 53% of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing, | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
and 62% disapprove of his handling of the economy. 82% think the | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
country is in recession. At the Reagan Library, Republican | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
presidential hopefuls debate, agreeing that Obama does not have | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
the answers. America is in crisis. This President has to go. He is a | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
nice guy but he does not have a clue how to get the country working. | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
The challenge is to prove that wrong. The President's main | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
domestic policy adviser told me this is an important night. People | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
are sitting around their kitchen tables wondering how to make ends | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
meet, how to send kids to college. This will be an issue on the minds | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
of Americans for months and years to come, but the President's burkas | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
is making sure today that we are doing everything we can to make | :13:43. | :13:49. | |
sure Americans are working. -- his focus. How places like Richmond, | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
Virginia, greet the plan could be vital for the President. This was | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
one of the states that helped Obama to win, he took it from the | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
Democrats for the first time in 44 years. But it is uncertain he will | :14:01. | :14:05. | |
be able to repeat the trick unless the economy improves. Geoff voted | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
for Obama last time and his electrical business is doing well, | :14:08. | :14:11. | |
but he wants the President to do more to create jobs and things he | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
has not proved he deserves a second term. If you do not get Excellence | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
by compromise. I want to see a president that is willing to spend | :14:20. | :14:26. | |
on what he was elected for, without compromise. And to push that agenda | :14:26. | :14:32. | |
forward with sincere tenacity,... With my company, if you are not | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
getting the job done, you're not there any more. Barry lost his job | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
designing bathrooms and kitchens 18 months ago. He, too, voted for | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
Obama and once the president to pull a rabbit out of the hat. But | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
he worries that the Republican House will block any plan. All that | :14:49. | :14:54. | |
I have seen is a buck -- a bunch of adults acting like children. | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
Sometimes I am truly proud to be an American. Sometimes I am just | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
embarrassed. What has been happening in Congress just | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
embarrasses me. No one doubts that the President can deliver a good | :15:06. | :15:14. | |
Coming up on tonight's programme: We travel to eastern Russia and | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
meet the man Britain blames for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in | :15:17. | :15:27. | |
:15:27. | :15:29. | ||
Audio tapes released by the US authorities give a new and dramatic | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
insight into how officials reacted to the 9/11 attacks on New York and | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
Washington. The tapes, many of which have not been heard before, | :15:37. | :15:39. | |
show how confused and horrified pilots and air traffic controllers | :15:39. | :15:45. | |
were as they struggled to work out what was happening. This weekend | :15:45. | :15:55. | |
:15:55. | :15:57. | ||
marks ten years since the attacks A September 11th, at 8.13 in the | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
morning air traffic controllers lose contact with American Airlines | :16:01. | :16:06. | |
flight 11. Then a telephone call from the plane itself. It is Betty | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
Ong, an attendant. Somebody has been stabbed in business-class. We | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
can't breathe. I think we're getting hijacked. Shortly | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
afterwards, this. Nobody move, everything is OK. If you try to | :16:23. | :16:30. | |
make a move, the airplane is in danger. The voice of Mohammad after, | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
now at the plane's controls. -- Mohamed Atta. We have a problem, we | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
have a hijacked aircraft heading towards New York. We need someone | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
to scramble some F-16s to help us out. Is this real world or | :16:46. | :16:52. | |
exercise? This is not an exercise. Then -- the head of National Air | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
Traffic Control was on his first day in the job. I found myself | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
standing in the middle of that floor, mostly trying to comprehend | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
what the heck was going on. events unfold, in the control | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
towers, bafflement and disbelief. If you look out of your window | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
right now, it looks like he is... That is another situation. Another | :17:17. | :17:26. | |
one has hit the building. The whole building came apart. At 10:30am, | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
orders go out to shoot down hijacked aircraft. The commander | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
has declared we can shoot down aircraft that do not respond to | :17:35. | :17:43. | |
last. Copy that? But there were none left to shoot down. | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
The New York City police commissioner has told the BBC of | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
his concerns that al-Qaeda could attempt another attack to mark this | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
weekend's tenth anniversary of 9/11. He said his fears are based on | :17:52. | :17:54. | |
intelligence seized during the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
earlier this year. Our security correspondent Gordon Corera has | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
spent time with the New York Police Department as it prepares a massive | :18:01. | :18:11. | |
:18:11. | :18:15. | ||
New York on alert. A city where the fear of attack, especially in the | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
next few days, is high. We want to prevent another attack from | :18:19. | :18:27. | |
happening here. We are not afraid to be visible about that. This is | :18:27. | :18:32. | |
assertive policing, in-your-face like New York itself. We watch as | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
patrol cars from every precinct gather at Times Square. With a | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
signal, they pull out. Three times a day, dozens of police cars surge | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
across the city to key locations. It is a show of force designed to | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
deter any terrorists thinking of attacking the city. We have been | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
given rare access to the counter- terrorism work of New York police. | :18:58. | :19:08. | |
:19:08. | :19:08. | ||
On the ground, Underground, on the Out on helicopter patrol, the | :19:08. | :19:14. | |
challenges in protecting a city of 8 million are clear. That is the | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
George Washington Bridge, Very Very famous, very, very critical. It is | :19:18. | :19:23. | |
always a potential target. Beneath us lies the still visible scars of | :19:23. | :19:32. | |
10 years ago, another police helicopter witnessed the attacks. | :19:32. | :19:39. | |
The whole tower! It has led to a fierce determination not to allow | :19:39. | :19:45. | |
terrorists to slip through the net again. We want people to know... | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
his command centre, with screens showing live surveillance images, | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
New York's police commissioner explains that intelligence from | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
Osama Bin Laden's death has heightened concerns. We are worried | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
specifically about something happening on the anniversary of | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
9/11 because we saw some of Bin Laden's materials where there was | :20:06. | :20:14. | |
discussion about the ten-year anniversary. Heavily-armed officers | :20:14. | :20:19. | |
carry out spot checks on the subway. Bags are swiped for explosive | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
traces. Anyone seen avoiding a cheque is followed by an undercover | :20:23. | :20:29. | |
officer. As well as the visible, there is the covert. This | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
surveillance video shows an undercover FBI operation in which a | :20:34. | :20:41. | |
group of men were caught trying to use a surface-to-air missile. But | :20:41. | :20:44. | |
the widespread use of informants has led to accusations of spying on | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
the Muslim community. They are criminalising and they are creating | :20:49. | :20:55. | |
a sense of guilt for all Muslims in New York. Instead of building | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
bridges after all the Islamophobia or that we have experienced over | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
the last 10 years. Around Manhattan, boats patrol with heavily armed | :21:04. | :21:09. | |
officers. For the authorities deny they are going too far. But 10 | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
years on, they also say they will do what it takes to keep the city | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
safe. You can see more on that story on | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
Newsnight at 10.30pm on BBC Two. American forces in Afghanistan have | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
admitted that a BBC reporter who died when the Taliban stormed a | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
building in July was shot dead by US troops in a case of mistaken | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
identity. Omaid Khpulwak, who worked for the BBC's Pashto service, | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
was killed while hiding in a bathroom after a soldier mistook | :21:36. | :21:45. | |
him for a suicide bomber. He's left a wife and baby daughter. To travel | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
to Russia on Sunday, it's emerged tonight that no British government | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
minister or diplomat has spoken to Vladimir Putin since 2007. | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
Relations went into sharp decline following the murder in London of | :21:55. | :21:57. | |
Alexander Litvinenko, which investigators here blamed on a | :21:57. | :22:03. | |
former KGB member who they want extradited. Daniel Sandford has | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
been to Russia's far east, where the suspect, now a member of the | :22:06. | :22:16. | |
:22:16. | :22:17. | ||
country's parliament, continues to He remains one of Britain's most | :22:17. | :22:22. | |
wanted men. Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer, is accused of a | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
shocking murder in a luxury London hotel. But he agreed to let us join | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
him for two days in the Russian will do this. Even urging Britain | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
to get over the crisis the killing caused. TRANSLATION: Are we going | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
to fight about it for the next 100 years? We should be looking for a | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
way out and the ball is not in the Russian court, it is in the English | :22:44. | :22:51. | |
court. While he can visit the Kamchatka peninsular, 5,000 miles | :22:51. | :22:57. | |
from Moscow, he has not left Russia since 2006. If he does he will be | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
detained on an international arrest warrant. For almost five years, | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
Andrei Lugovoi has been the source of huge diplomatic friction. | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
Britain wants to put him on trial for murder and Russia won't give | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
him up. Alexander Litvinenko, the man he is accused of killing, died | :23:13. | :23:20. | |
as slow and painful death, poisoned by polonium-2 10, which is lethally | :23:20. | :23:25. | |
radioactive. He had also been a KGB officer, but had recently become a | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
British citizen. Andrei Lugovoi was the key suspect, having left a | :23:29. | :23:37. | |
trail of polonium across Europe. But he has always denied the murder. | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
Russian British relations went into the deep freeze, the pro-Kremlin | :23:41. | :23:46. | |
youth group Nashi targeted the British ambassador. Two foreign | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
ministers were not talking to each other, Number Ten was not in touch | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
with the Kremlin, I was being hounded around Moscow by Nashi, the | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
British Council had it in effect been thrown out. The powerful | :23:58. | :24:01. | |
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has still had no substantive | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
discussions with any British minister since 2007. Andrei Lugovoi | :24:06. | :24:11. | |
is now a member of the Russian parliament. The chances of him | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
being tried in Britain seem more remote than ever, though he made | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
one suggestion to break the deadlock. TRANSLATION: In the | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
famous Lockerbie case, Britain passed a special law allowing the | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
terrorists to be tried in the Netherlands. Why don't we get a | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
third country to conduct an independent investigation? With | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
Lugovoi confident that he will never face trial, David Cameron is | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
about to be the first British prime minister to visit Russia since the | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
poisoning and he will meet Vladimir Putin. But the murder remains | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
unpunished. The organisers of the 2012 | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
Paralympics have promised to make theirs the first sell-out games. | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
Tickets will be available from midnight. Today, Paralympians | :24:56. | :24:59. | |
gathered in Trafalgar Square to demonstrate their sporting prowess. | :24:59. | :25:09. | |
:25:09. | :25:10. | ||
Anyone for a quiet game of wheelchair rugby? Or how about | :25:10. | :25:18. | |
sitting volleyball? Table tennis, or a near 17 other sports? Today | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
you could watch them and tomorrow you can buy a ticket for them. The | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
Paralympics are coming for town and for its most famous face, London is | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
ready. The people are coming out and enjoying the sport. I have seen | :25:32. | :25:35. | |
some people clenching their jaws watching the wheelchairs clash | :25:35. | :25:40. | |
behind us. It is exciting. Excitement around the sport is what | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
is needed. I am looking forward to it. So of these two, Boris Johnson | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
and David Cameron and using the crowds with an enthusiastic display | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
of their tennis skills. For London Paralympics has heavyweight support, | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
but the big question is can they sell the tickets? At previous games | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
they have given away thousands of them, but London insists they will | :26:04. | :26:09. | |
sell every one. Prices are competitive. There are 2 million | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
tickets for sale and they are cheaper than the Olympics, half | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
will cost �10 or less. You can buy them online from 9am tomorrow for | :26:17. | :26:24. | |
nearly three weeks. The Paralympics were born in Britain at the Stoke | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
Mandeville Games in 1948. Organisers hope that traditional -- | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
tradition will translate into ticket. Our history in the | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
Paralympic movement, the fact that many Paralympians are household | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
names, the fact that more Paralympic sport you show young | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
people, for more interest there is gives us a real head start. | :26:45. | :26:54. | |
perhaps the best reason to watch the Paralympics will be this. | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
Britton won 42 gold medals in Beijing, second only to have China | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
and with home support, anything is possible. Being in Beijing and | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
having the Chinese crowd cheering for you, even though you weren't | :27:05. | :27:11. |