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Spy blamed putin for death of former kgb detractor { November 24 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20061123-103632-7016r.htmThe former spy said he thought he had been poisoned on Nov. 1, while investigating the slaying of another Kremlin detractor -- investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya..... "Somebody has asked me directly, 'Who is guilty of Anna's death?' And I can directly answer you: 'It is Mr. Putin, president of the Russian Federation,' " Mr. Litvinenko said.
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20061123-103632-7016r.htm
Ex-Russian spy who claimed poisoning dies in London
By Tariq Panja
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 24, 2006
LONDON -- An exiled former Russian spy and Kremlin critic who said he had been poisoned died last night at a London hospital, after a mysterious and rapid decline that left doctors baffled, officials said.
Alexander Litvinenko, a fierce opponent of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had suffered heart failure and was heavily sedated as medical staff struggled to pinpoint what had made the 43-year-old critically ill.
"The matter is being investigated as an unexplained death," London's Metropolitan Police said.
The former spy said he thought he had been poisoned on Nov. 1, while investigating the slaying of another Kremlin detractor -- investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. His hair fell out, his throat became swollen, and his immune and nervous systems were severely damaged, he said.
Just hours before he lost consciousness Tuesday, Mr. Litvinenko told the London Times that he would not survive and that the Kremlin was directly involved in his poisoning.
"This is what it takes to prove one has been telling the truth," Mr. Litvinenko was quoted as saying.
Doctors at London's University College Hospital said tests had virtually ruled out poisoning by thallium and radiation -- toxins once considered culprits behind the poisoning.
Earlier in the day, as hospital officials reported that Mr. Litvinenko's condition was deteriorating rapidly, family and friends rushed to his bedside.
Anti-terrorist police were investigating the claim of poisoning, which Mr. Litvinenko's fellow dissidents also charge was carried out at the behest of the Russian government. Mr. Litvinenko sought asylum in Britain in 2000 and has been a relentless critic of the Kremlin and the Russian security services since then.
Mr. Litvinenko also publicly linked the Kremlin to Mrs. Politkovskaya's death while speaking to a London press group last month.
"Somebody has asked me directly, 'Who is guilty of Anna's death?' And I can directly answer you: 'It is Mr. Putin, president of the Russian Federation,' " Mr. Litvinenko said.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, issued its strongest denial to date Wednesday of accusations that it was involved in any assassination attempt.
"Litvinenko is not the kind of person for whose sake we would spoil bilateral relations," SVR spokesman Sergei Ivanov said, according to the Interfax news agency. "It is absolutely not in our interests to be engaged in such activity."
Mr. Litvinenko worked both for the KGB and for a successor agency, the Federal Security Service. In 1998, he publicly accused his superiors of ordering him to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky -- now exiled in Britain. A year later, he spent nine months in jail on charges of abuse of office, for which he was later acquitted but which prompted his move to London.
On the day he first felt ill, Mr. Litvinenko said he had two meetings. In the morning, he met with an unidentified Russian and with Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB colleague and bodyguard to one-time Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, at a London hotel. Later, he dined with Italian security specialist Mario Scaramella to discuss the October killing of Mrs. Politkovskaya.
Mr. Scaramella told reporters in Rome Tuesday that he had traveled to meet the former agent to discuss an e-mail he received from a source that named the killers of Mrs. Politkovskaya, who was fatally shot Oct. 7 at her Moscow apartment building. The e-mail also warned that Mr. Scaramella and Mr. Litvinenko were on the hit list as well.
After visiting the hospital yesterday, Mr. Berezovsky said British police have yet to speak to him but hoped they would be in contact over the next two days.
A friend of Mr. Litvinenko's said Wednesday that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the ex-spy's meeting with Mr. Lugovoy, who also worked as bodyguard to Mr. Berezovsky, the most high-profile Russian exile in London.
Copyright © 2006 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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