Frank Gardner
Appearances
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
Chloropicrin is a rock control gas that causes intense irritation and pain in the eyes and lungs, forcing troops out of their trenches into the open, where they can then be picked off by drones and artillery fire. Its use in warfare is banned under Schedule 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has signed.
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
But Ukraine says it has evidence that Russian troops have used it on nearly 5,000 occasions. As the commander of Russia's radiological, chemical and biological forces, General Kirillov was already sanctioned by Britain for his alleged role in ordering the use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine. Russia denies it has used them.
Global News Podcast
US says it's cautiously optimistic that a deal to end fighting in Gaza is within reach
The accusations against General Kirillov are multiple and serious. As well as spreading disinformation, he was accused by Ukraine and its Western allies of ordering the mass use of a particularly unpleasant toxic chemical agent against Ukrainian troops in the Donbass.
Global News Podcast
Five dead and 200 injured in Magdeburg Christmas market attack
A source close to the Saudi government tells me it sent four official notifications, known as Notes Verbal, to the German authorities, warning them about what it said were the very extreme views held by Talib al-Abdam Mohsen. The source, who asked not to be named, said these notifications contained details about him.
Global News Podcast
Five dead and 200 injured in Magdeburg Christmas market attack
Three were sent to Germany's intelligence agencies and one to the foreign ministry, but all the source said were ignored. Reports have emerged in the German media of the suspect's campaigns against his country's official religion, Islam, and of his fury at the policy of his adopted home, Germany, in letting in such huge numbers of Muslim refugees from the Middle East.
Global News Podcast
Five dead and 200 injured in Magdeburg Christmas market attack
He's also reported to have tried to help young Saudi women and critics of the government there escape from Saudi Arabia and seek asylum in Germany. In the past, there have been cases reported of of agents of the Saudi government carrying out surveillance on dissident Saudis living in Germany and Canada and attempts to bring them back to Saudi Arabia by force.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
There are often more than one reason why somebody would want to do this. It's not always purely terrorism. It's not purely ideology. It can be mental. There could be all sorts of reasons, the stress that they're undergoing. They might have been fired. They might have died. Their wife or partner has left them. They might be extremely upset about something.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
There have been a number of similar attacks like this. For example, there was one in Nice some years ago where a Tunisian man used a lorry to mow down a large number of people. Around 80 were killed in the city of Nice in southern France. In this case, a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor. That's very unusual for a number of reasons. Very few of the terrorist suspects in Europe have been Saudis.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
Now, obviously, the 9-11 plot involved a lot of Saudis, but that was a long time ago, 23 years ago. 50 is quite old, and it's... It's odd, this. I mean, there are a lot of things that don't really kind of stack up. There was no particular warning. I'm not sure that there was any particular spike in traffic or gossip or chatter, as it's known as in intelligence circles, about an imminent attack.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
That said, only two months ago here in the UK, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said, look, we're dealing with a huge number of state threats, specifically Russia and Iran, but also terrorism hasn't gone away. And over 70% of the terrorism cases that they're dealing with are Islamist-inspired, i.e.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
Al-Qaeda or ISIS-inspired, where people have got a grudge against the West generally for its policies, largely in the Middle East.