Suspect accuses British spies of role in poisoning

MOSCOW – The former KGB agent wanted for the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko made a bold assertion of his own Thursday, accusing the British intelligence community of involvement in Litvinenko’s death.

Nine days after British authorities said they would seek Andrei Lugovoi’s extradition for Litvinenko’s murder, the 41-year-old Russian delivered a string of startling accusations at a packed news conference in Moscow, though he refused to provide any proof to substantiate them.

Lugovoi said Litvinenko, also a one-time KGB spy who gained asylum in Britain in 2001, worked for the British intelligence branch MI6 and was trying to recruit Lugovoi to gather compromising material on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lugovoi also repeated his denials of any involvement in Litvinenko’s poisoning, portraying himself as a mere businessman swept up in the swirl of intrigue surrounding the Nov. 23 death of Litvinenko.

Lugovoi said he had evidence to back his assertions but refused to divulge what that evidence was. A British government official who requested anonymity called Lugovoi’s accusations “a lot of chaff being thrown up, a smoke screen. The central issue is clear: Someone was killed in London, and there was a significant health risk.”

British authorities say Litvinenko, 43, was poisoned with polonium-210, a highly radioactive substance that can kill in minute amounts. Before he died, Litvinenko issued a deathbed statement accusing Putin of orchestrating his poisoning, a charge the Kremlin has vehemently denied.

British investigators believe Litvinenko ingested the poison while drinking tea at the Millennium Hotel in London on Nov. 1, the day he met Lugovoi and Lugovoi’s business associate, Dmitry Kovtun, at the Millennium’s Pine Bar.

Russian authorities have refused to grant Britain’s request for Lugovoi’s extradition, citing Russia’s constitution, which bars the extradition of Russian citizens.

Since Litvinenko’s death, Lugovoi has granted several television, radio and print interviews in which he professed his innocence and discussed his relationship with Litvinenko and his visits to London in the weeks preceding Litvinenko’s poisoning. However, his remarks Thursday marked the first time he mentioned any allegation of British intelligence involvement in Litvinenko’s death.