Whitehall official: Kremlin killed Litvinenko
The murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko on British soil took place with Russian government approval, a Whitehall official has reportedly said.
BBC2’s Newsnight programme quoted an unnamed Foreign Office source last night claiming the British government strongly believes Vladimir Putin’s administration backed the killing.
“We very strongly assess the Litvinenko case to have had some state involvement. there are very strong indications it was a state action,” the source told the programme.
“It was the Russia state, not a rogue element. the polonium itself is evidence of state involvement.”
Mr Litvinenko died on November 23rd 2006 of radiation poisoning, prompting a public health scare in London and a diplomatic row with Moscow. It has refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the man the crown prosecution service believes carried out the poisoning.
A deathbed statement revealed the morning after his death saw Mr Litvinenko accuse Mr Putin of personal responsibility for the alleged murder. Russia has strenuously denied the accusation and relations with the British government remain strained as a result.
Yesterday prime minister Gordon Brown met with new Russian president Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan. Reports suggest the meeting went badly, with little progress made on issues including visas for energy firm BP’s workers.
Mr Litvinenko’s widow Marina said in a statement issued today she believed this and “harassment of the British Council” had been “devised by the Kremlin to induce Britain to stop pursuing Mr Lugovoi’s extradition”.
“I was relieved to find out that the prime minister stood firm and explained to Mr Medvedev that there can be no compromise on that,” she added.
“I hoped that President Medvedev would tell the truth about my husband’s murder; by doing so he would distance himself from the previous regime. It appears that he chose to side with it. The difference between him and Mr Putin is only in style but not in substance.”
