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Dead spy's wife points the finger at Russia

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: The wife of the dead KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko has said that she does not believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was directly behind her husband's death but alleged that "what Putin does around him in Russia makes it possible to kill a Russian person on British soil.''

"Obviously, it was not Putin himself, of course not... . I believe that it could have been the Russian authorities,'' Marina Litvinenko told The Mail on Sunday speaking for the first time in public since her husband's death in a London hospital on November 23 following mysterious radiation poisoning.

Her remarks contradict Litvinenko's allegation, made in a statement from his deathbed, that he was poisoned at the behest of the Russian President.

Ms. Litvinenko said the Russian authorities, investigating the case, had not been in touch with her. But even if they did, she may not "help'' them, she said.

"I do not think I will help them with their investigations. I cannot believe they will tell the truth. I cannot believe if they ask about evidence they will use it in the proper way,'' she said.

Ms. Litvinenko said she had decided to break her silence because her husband had been portrayed as a dubious character. She claimed that he had never been a spy. He did work for the KGB but tackled organised crime. She had no idea what he did for a living since coming to Britain after falling out with the Russian authorities. She described him as a writer and a consultant. "I don't know what the business [he did] was, I just know about our family life. It was a very normal life,'' she said.

Meanwhile, the number of people who have been contaminated with polonoim-210 — the substance that killed Litvinenko — has gone up with two police officers associated with the case also testing positive.

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