Poisoned spy blames Putin for his death

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Andrei Lugovoi, a key witness in ex-spy's death may be ready to testify






December 8, 2006




LONDON, England (AP) -- Detectives investigating the death of an ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko turned their attention Friday to a meeting at a London hotel bar where at least 10 people may have been exposed to radioactive polonium-210.

Colleagues in Moscow hoped to question one of those people, former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi, a security consultant named by British law enforcement officials as a key witness.

Lugovoi, also a former Soviet agent, met Litvinenko at the bar of London's Millennium hotel on November 1, the day the ex-spy fell ill.

Another man at that meeting, businessman Dmitry Kovtun, is hospitalized in Moscow with signs of contamination from polonium-210, a rare radioactive element.

Britain's Health Protection Agency confirmed on Thursday that seven hotel employees had also tested positive for exposure to radiation.

Litvinenko, who was buried Thursday, died in a London hospital on November 23. Doctors said he was poisoned with a massive dose of the radioactive substance.

A meeting between detectives and Lugovoi "could happen today," his lawyer Andrei Romashov told The Associated Press on Friday. Lugovoi is undergoing medical checks in a Moscow clinic.

British officers, who are being supported by agents from the domestic spy agency MI5, have spent several days attempting to interview Lugovoi without success, law enforcement officials said.

Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said on Wednesday that British police would not be permitted to question Lugovoi directly, but could attend while Russian officers conducted the interrogation.

A Russian news agency reported Thursday that Kovtun had slipped into a coma after meeting Russian investigators and Scotland Yard detectives.

But Romashov denied that report Friday, saying Kovtun's condition was "the same" as before and during the interrogation.

Lugovoi, 41, is being tested for signs of polonium. Traces of the element have been found at several sites he visited in recent weeks, including the stadium of London's Arsenal soccer club and the British Embassy in Moscow.

Health protection agency officials said the seven exposed bar employees were working at the Millennium Hotel on the day of the meeting.

A British police official said the inquiry had not yet concluded that the hotel's dimly lit Pine Bar, close to London's U.S. Embassy in Grosvenor Square, was the poisoning venue, but said it was now an integral part of the case. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.

Dr. Michael Clarke, of the health agency, said it was likely the poisoning could have been carried out at the bar.

"People go to bars to drink, eat and smoke -- all of which are possibilities for the poisoning," Clarke told the AP on Friday.

Litvineko's friend Alex Goldfarb said the former spy sipped tea during the meeting, while Lugovoi said he recalls ordering a bottle of gin. Clarke said polonium could have been discreetly added to food or drink.

"If it was some sort of liquid, it could have been -- as in James Bond -- a little magic capsule," Clarke told reporters on Thursday.

Health officials also said traces of polonium had been uncovered at the Parkes Hotel, in Mayfair -- where Lugovoi stayed on October 16.

Russian prosecutors announced Thursday they had opened a criminal case for the murder of Litvinenko and attempted murder of Kovtun.

In a statement, the Prosecutor General's Office said Kovtun had "developed an illness also connected with the radioactive nuclide (substance)."

A criminal probe in Russia would allow suspects to be prosecuted there. Officials previously have said that Russia would not extradite any suspects in Litvinenko's killing.

British detectives declined to comment on how the move would effect their case, insisting Moscow officials were providing cooperation.

Litvinenko was buried in a specially sealed coffin at a rain-lashed ceremony at London's Highgate Cemetery attended by around 50 of his family and friends.