LONDON: Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy poisoned in Britain, wrote to President Vladimir Putin several years ago asking for a pardon for selling secrets to British intelligence, a friend told the BBC on Saturday. He said Skripal told him that “he wrote to Vladimir Putin asking to be fully pardoned and to be allowed to visit Russia. Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter are both in a coma after being poisoned with a nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury on March 4. London, the United States and the European Union have blamed the Russian state for the attack, although Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement. Russia responded by expelling its own diplomats and shutting down the British Council cultural organisation.

Source: New Strait Times March 24, 2018 16:18 UTC