UK police identify over 200 witnesses in nerve agent attack: Minister

British police have identified more than 200 witnesses and are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence in their investigation into a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter,Interior Minister Amber Rudd said on Saturday.   

 Former double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital in a critical condition since Sunday, when they were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English cathedral city of Salisbury.  “The two victims remain in hospital and they’re critical but stable,” Rudd told reporters after chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra security committee.   

 Skripal betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence before his arrest in Moscow in 2004.   

 Many in British media and politics have speculated that Russia could have played a part in the attack on Skripal.   

 The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident and accused the British media of whipping up anti-Russian hysteria. The BBC reported late on Saturday that traces of the nerve agent had been found at Zizzi, an Italian restaurant where the Skripals had a meal before they were found unconscious. A police spokesman declined to comment on the report.   

 The BBC, without citing a source, reported that the authorities did not think anyone else who had been there was at risk from the nerve agent. 
SALISBURY REUTERS March 10