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Russian says litvinenko killed by british spy { May 31 2007 }

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   http://www.ft.com/cms/s/40024112-0f4b-11dc-a66f-000b5df10621.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/40024112-0f4b-11dc-a66f-000b5df10621.html

Litvinenko was British spy, says Lugovoi
By Neil Buckley in Moscow

Published: May 31 2007 08:54 | Last updated: May 31 2007 12:23

Andrei Lugovoi, the Russian accused by the UK of murdering Alexander Litvinenko has claimed he has evidence that British intelligence was involved in the poisoning of the former KGB officer.

Mr Lugovoi said he believed the UK intelligence services or Boris Berezovsky, the exiled Russian tycoon, were more likely suspects in Litvinenko’s death last November than he was.

In a dramatic 90-minute press conference in Moscow, Mr Lugovoi alleged that both Litvinenko and Mr Berezovsky worked for UK intelligence. He also said that British agents had tried to recruit him to collect compromising material on Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Mr Lugovoi’s comments, carried live on Russian television, came after the UK said last week it had enough evidence to charge him with the murder of Litvinenko, who died last November of poisoning with radioactive polonium-210. British prosecutors handed over a dossier on the case to the Russian authorities last Monday.

“I would like to make an announcement which should shed some light on this murky political story, in which the main roles were played by British secret services and their agents Berezovsky and the late Litvinenko,” Mr Lugovoi said.

Mr Berezovsky has repeatedly denied any involvement in the Litvinenko murder and said on Thursday he was not an agent of MI6, the UK’s overseas intelligence service.

He added that Mr Lugovoi’s press conference made it “clearer than ever that the Kremlin is behind the murder of Alexander Litvinenko” – repeating Litvinenko’s deathbed claim that Mr Putin and Russian security services were responsible.

“Everything about Mr Lugovoi’s words and presentation made it obvious that he is acting on Kremlin instruction,” Mr Berezovsky said. “The UK authorities know very well who their MI6 agents are in the UK and so they know that I am not one of them.”

The British Foreign Office did not comment directly on Mr Lugovoi’s allegations, but said the Litvinenko case was a criminal not intelligence matter. It added that it was expecting a “constructive official response” from the Russian authorities.

Litvinenko himself, in a signed statement he was said to have dictated on his deathbed, accused Mr Putin and the Russian security services of being behind his murder. Mr Lugovoi and Russian business associate, Dmitry Kovtun, met Litvinenko in London on the day he fell ill.

But Mr Lugovoi insisted the real killers and motives were to be found in the UK. He said he and Mr Kovtun were not only innocent, but were victims of the case themselves, having been contaminated with polonium.

He said he was being made a “scapegoat” for the murder by the UK, and that traces of polonium found in various locations visited by him and Mr Kovtun had been put there to incriminate them.

Mr Lugovoi is himself a former KGB officer who now runs security and consumer goods businesses in Russia. He alleged Litvinenko had told him he was working for MI6, but said he believed the exiled Russian may have fallen out with his handlers.

“I cannot escape the thought that Litvinenko was an agent who had got out of control and they got rid of him,” he said. Asked if he had evidence of British intelligence involvement, Mr Lugovoi responded “I have,” but refused to elaborate.

He also alleged that Litvinenko was attempting to blackmail Mr Berezovsky with what Litvinenko claimed was compromising material that could jeopardise Mr Berezovsky’s political asylum status in the UK.

Mr Lugovoi said British intelligence had attempted to recruit him on one of his previous trips to the UK. “[They] proposed that I collect materials to discredit Vladimir Putin and his family,” he said.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007



Alexander Litvinenko_poisoned [jpg]
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Former kgb agent poisoned in britain { November 20 2006 }
Former russian spy poisoned in britain { November 19 2006 }
Litvinenko accused fsb of death squads and terrorism { January 2 2007 }
Murdered russian spy blames putin { November 24 2006 }
Radiation traces found on 2 british airways jets
Russian says litvinenko killed by british spy { May 31 2007 }
Spy blamed putin for death of former kgb detractor { November 24 2006 }

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