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Labs Confirm Nerve Agent Used on Russian Ex-Spy

by VOA News

   Four laboratories linked to the international chemical weapons watchdog
   have confirmed Britain's findings that a nerve agent was used last
   month to poison a former Russian spy and his daughter.

   The confirmations were published in an Organization for the Prohibition
   of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) report released Thursday.

   British Prime Minister Theresa May says former Russian spy Sergei
   Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned last month in Salisbury,
   England with a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union
   in the 1970s and '80s.

   The watchdog did not blame Russia for the attack nor did it name the
   specific chemical agent used. But British Foreign Secretary Boris
   Johnson said only Russia had the "means, motive, and record" to carry
   out such an attack.
   Russia has denied involvement in the attack and contends Britain has
   not provided evidence to support its assertion.
   Britain, meanwhile, has called on the U.N. Security Council to convene
   a meeting to discuss the report, according to a tweet from Britain's
   mission to the United Nations.

   Yulia Skripal was discharged Monday from a British hospital. She said
   she was still suffering from the effects of the poisoning and her
   father remains seriously ill.