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"Litvinenko was murdered"

Hasan Suroor

Motive of the perpetrators unknown

LONDON: Scotland Yard has concluded that the controversial former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died of suspected radiation poisoning in a London hospital two weeks ago, was murdered.

In a statement, it said that detectives investigating the case had "reached the stage where it is felt appropriate to treat it as an allegation of murder.''

Police, however, rejected the various conspiracy theories surrounding the case saying that no conclusion as to the "means'' or "motives'' of the alleged murder had been reached.

"It is important to stress that we have reached no conclusions as to the means employed, the motive or the identity of those who might be responsible for Mr. Litvinenko's death," the statement said.

Litvinenko who was contaminated with polonium-210, a deadly radio-active substance, alleged in a statement before his death on November 23 that he had been a victim of a Moscow-inspired plot because of his outspoken criticism of the Russian Government.

His father Walter Litvinenko alleged that his son was killed by "little, tiny nuclear bomb, so small that you couldn't see it.''

The Russian Government has vehemently denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death and protested to the British Government for allowing anti-Moscow elements in Britain to make unfounded allegations against the Putin administration.

Meanwhile, Litvinenko, who converted to Islam days before his death, was buried in a private Muslim cemetery on Thursday.

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