http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_re_eu/britain_poisoned_spy_54
Poisoned spy accused Putin before death
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer Sat Nov 25, 8:40 PM ET
LONDON - An former KGB agent poisoned in London described in interviews before his death how he was ordered to hire assassins to neutralize potential rivals and whistle-blowers who threatened the Kremlin, according to excerpts published on Saturday.
Alexander Litvinenko, an ex-spy turned critic of Russian President
Vladimir Putin, died Thursday of heart failure after suddenly falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by a radioactive substance. British pathologists were assessing Saturday when they may finally be able to examine the highly contaminated body and experts claimed investigators may never pinpoint the exact source of the rare radioactive polonium-210 element found in the spy's urine by toxicologists.
In a dramatic deathbed statement, 43-year-old Litvinenko accused Putin — who he called "barbaric and ruthless" — of ordering his poisoning. Putin has called the death a tragedy and denied involvement.
Litvinenko spoke to academics James Heartfield and Julia Svetlichnaja from the University of Westminster in three interviews that lasted about six hours in total in April and May. The Daily Telegraph published a syndicated version of the interviews on Saturday.
Litvinenko was recruited into the Soviet-era KGB and also worked for its successor, the Federal Security Service, or FSB. He was later promoted to a specialist counterterrorism and organized crime unit. After the fall of communism, he said his directive was to recruit powerful businessmen who could stimulate an economic boom, and to hire assassins.
"So if somebody was the victim of a crime — like his daughter was raped — you would offer to let them take revenge on the perpetrator," Litvinenko was quoted as saying. "This was how we recruited killers."
British detectives investigating his death launched an international hunt for witnesses Saturday and spooled through hours of security video for clues. They were examining closed-circuit television footage and interviewing hotel and restaurant staff, a police spokeswoman said.
In a sign the British government was taking the matter seriously, it convened a crisis committee with security officials for a third straight day. The meetings are attended by the nation's top security, health and diplomatic officials on issues such as terrorism. They are intended to bring experts and legislators together to make quick decisions.
Putin's government has pledged to cooperate with the investigation; the Kremlin had no immediate comment Saturday on the interviews with the academics.
In the interviews, Litvinenko said that as a favor to a senior former colleague who was in debt to moneylenders from the Caucasus, he was told to arrest the creditors and execute them.
"Our department worked on the so-called problem principle — the government had a problem and we had simply to deal with it," he said.
He said he was ordered to kill Mikhail Trepashkin, another security officer who had spoken about the FSB's activities. He said he was also told to kidnap a prominent Chechen businessman based in Moscow to trade for Russian intelligence officers taken hostage by Chechens.
By 1997, Litvinenko said his department had become "responsible for illegal punishments or so-called extralegal executions of unsuitable businessmen, politicians and other public figures. In parallel, the department blackmailed the same targets for funds."
In 1998, he publicly accused his superiors of ordering him to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who was living in exile in London. He spent nine months in jail from 1999 on charges of abuse of office. He was later acquitted and moved to Britain, which granted him asylum in 2000.
On one occasion, the Daily Telegraph reported Litvinenko met the researchers in the Itsu sushi bar in London's Piccadilly district, the restaurant he visited on Nov. 1, the day he said he was poisoned and where police have found traces of radiation.
Meanwhile, a British government pathologist was assessing the risks of carrying out an autopsy on Litvinenko's contaminated body, but no decision had yet been made on when the examination could proceed, police said.
Tests by forensic toxicologists found the radioactive polonium-210 in Litvinenko's urine, Britain's Health Protection Agency said. Agency officials said discovery of the element in a poisoning case was "an unprecedented event."
Litvinenko had told police he believed he had been poisoned that day while investigating the October slaying of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, another critic of Putin's government. Traces of radiation were found at his north London house, the sushi bar and a hotel he visited earlier that day, police said.
Litvinenko was hospitalized last week after his hair fell out, his throat became swollen and his immune and nervous systems were severely damaged.
Police confirmed Saturday the case was still being treated as an "unexplained death" — not murder.
Polonium-210 could be sourced from Russia, which has several nuclear research facilities and a major space program, but Kremlin intelligence agents would be unlikely to use it, as the origin could be traced, said Vladimir Slivyak, a nuclear expert and co-chairman of the Russian environmental group Ekozashchita, or Ecodefense.
He said the material was most likely acquired on the European black market.
Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian exile in Israel, said Litvinenko's death may be linked to investigations into charges laid against ex-shareholders and former owners of the Yukos oil company.
Nevzlin — a former shareholder in Yukos charged by Russian prosecutors with organizing murders, fraud and tax evasion — said in a statement Saturday he had met Litvinenko, who passed on documents related to criminal charges and tax claims against Yukos shareholders and officials.
In Moscow, the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta made a series of allegations Saturday about the killing, pointing suspicion at London's Russian exile community. It portrayed Litvinenko as a violent and unintelligent pawn who "made his choice and drank his poison ... when he betrayed those he worked for."
The newspaper speculated that Berezovsky was involved, aiming either to use the death to discredit Putin's government or settle a business dispute. A presenter on Russia's state-run Channel One television channel said there was "a theory Litvinenko poisoned himself."
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Poisoned spy accused Putin before death
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer Sat Nov 25, 8:40 PM ET
LONDON - An former KGB agent poisoned in London described in interviews before his death how he was ordered to hire assassins to neutralize potential rivals and whistle-blowers who threatened the Kremlin, according to excerpts published on Saturday.
Alexander Litvinenko, an ex-spy turned critic of Russian President
Vladimir Putin, died Thursday of heart failure after suddenly falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by a radioactive substance. British pathologists were assessing Saturday when they may finally be able to examine the highly contaminated body and experts claimed investigators may never pinpoint the exact source of the rare radioactive polonium-210 element found in the spy's urine by toxicologists.
In a dramatic deathbed statement, 43-year-old Litvinenko accused Putin — who he called "barbaric and ruthless" — of ordering his poisoning. Putin has called the death a tragedy and denied involvement.
Litvinenko spoke to academics James Heartfield and Julia Svetlichnaja from the University of Westminster in three interviews that lasted about six hours in total in April and May. The Daily Telegraph published a syndicated version of the interviews on Saturday.
Litvinenko was recruited into the Soviet-era KGB and also worked for its successor, the Federal Security Service, or FSB. He was later promoted to a specialist counterterrorism and organized crime unit. After the fall of communism, he said his directive was to recruit powerful businessmen who could stimulate an economic boom, and to hire assassins.
"So if somebody was the victim of a crime — like his daughter was raped — you would offer to let them take revenge on the perpetrator," Litvinenko was quoted as saying. "This was how we recruited killers."
British detectives investigating his death launched an international hunt for witnesses Saturday and spooled through hours of security video for clues. They were examining closed-circuit television footage and interviewing hotel and restaurant staff, a police spokeswoman said.
In a sign the British government was taking the matter seriously, it convened a crisis committee with security officials for a third straight day. The meetings are attended by the nation's top security, health and diplomatic officials on issues such as terrorism. They are intended to bring experts and legislators together to make quick decisions.
Putin's government has pledged to cooperate with the investigation; the Kremlin had no immediate comment Saturday on the interviews with the academics.
In the interviews, Litvinenko said that as a favor to a senior former colleague who was in debt to moneylenders from the Caucasus, he was told to arrest the creditors and execute them.
"Our department worked on the so-called problem principle — the government had a problem and we had simply to deal with it," he said.
He said he was ordered to kill Mikhail Trepashkin, another security officer who had spoken about the FSB's activities. He said he was also told to kidnap a prominent Chechen businessman based in Moscow to trade for Russian intelligence officers taken hostage by Chechens.
By 1997, Litvinenko said his department had become "responsible for illegal punishments or so-called extralegal executions of unsuitable businessmen, politicians and other public figures. In parallel, the department blackmailed the same targets for funds."
In 1998, he publicly accused his superiors of ordering him to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who was living in exile in London. He spent nine months in jail from 1999 on charges of abuse of office. He was later acquitted and moved to Britain, which granted him asylum in 2000.
On one occasion, the Daily Telegraph reported Litvinenko met the researchers in the Itsu sushi bar in London's Piccadilly district, the restaurant he visited on Nov. 1, the day he said he was poisoned and where police have found traces of radiation.
Meanwhile, a British government pathologist was assessing the risks of carrying out an autopsy on Litvinenko's contaminated body, but no decision had yet been made on when the examination could proceed, police said.
Tests by forensic toxicologists found the radioactive polonium-210 in Litvinenko's urine, Britain's Health Protection Agency said. Agency officials said discovery of the element in a poisoning case was "an unprecedented event."
Litvinenko had told police he believed he had been poisoned that day while investigating the October slaying of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, another critic of Putin's government. Traces of radiation were found at his north London house, the sushi bar and a hotel he visited earlier that day, police said.
Litvinenko was hospitalized last week after his hair fell out, his throat became swollen and his immune and nervous systems were severely damaged.
Police confirmed Saturday the case was still being treated as an "unexplained death" — not murder.
Polonium-210 could be sourced from Russia, which has several nuclear research facilities and a major space program, but Kremlin intelligence agents would be unlikely to use it, as the origin could be traced, said Vladimir Slivyak, a nuclear expert and co-chairman of the Russian environmental group Ekozashchita, or Ecodefense.
He said the material was most likely acquired on the European black market.
Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian exile in Israel, said Litvinenko's death may be linked to investigations into charges laid against ex-shareholders and former owners of the Yukos oil company.
Nevzlin — a former shareholder in Yukos charged by Russian prosecutors with organizing murders, fraud and tax evasion — said in a statement Saturday he had met Litvinenko, who passed on documents related to criminal charges and tax claims against Yukos shareholders and officials.
In Moscow, the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta made a series of allegations Saturday about the killing, pointing suspicion at London's Russian exile community. It portrayed Litvinenko as a violent and unintelligent pawn who "made his choice and drank his poison ... when he betrayed those he worked for."
The newspaper speculated that Berezovsky was involved, aiming either to use the death to discredit Putin's government or settle a business dispute. A presenter on Russia's state-run Channel One television channel said there was "a theory Litvinenko poisoned himself."
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