Tensions between Moscow and London

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Russian agents the poisoners: UK spies
Correspondents in London and Moscow
December 06, 2006

BRITISH intelligence services are convinced the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was authorised by Russia's secret service, the FSB. Security sources in London say the FSB orchestrated a "highly sophisticated plot" and is likely to have used some of its former agents to carry out the operation on the streets of the city.

"We know how the FSB operates abroad, and based on the circumstances behind the death of Litvinenko, the FSB has to be the prime suspect," an intelligence source said yesterday.

The involvement of a former FSB officer made it easier to lure Litvinenko to meetings at various locations and to distance the bosses in the Kremlin from being directly implicated in the plot.

British intelligence officials say only officials such as FSB agents would have been able to obtain a sufficient quantity of polonium-210, the radioactive substance used to poison Litvinenko just weeks after he was given British citizenship following his defection from Russia.

British spy agencies MI5 and MI6 are working closely with Scotland Yard on the investigation. A senior police source said the method used to kill the 43-year-old Russian dissident was intended to send a message to his friends and allies.

"It's such a bad way to die, they must have known," the source said.

"The sheer organisation involved could only have been managed by professionals adept at operating internationally."

Nine Scotland Yard detectives are in Moscow, and they are determined to question a number of well-connected businessmen, despite a warning yesterday from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that speculation over the fatal poisoning was straining relations between the Russian and British governments.

"It's unacceptable that a campaign should be whipped up with the participation of officials," Mr Lavrov said during a visit to Brussels. "This is of course harming our relations." Mr Lavrov said he had spoken with British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett about the case and the "necessity to avoid any kind of politicisation of this matter, this tragedy".

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Britain of mounting a propaganda campaign over the case.

But British ministers insist diplomatic sensitivities will not be allowed to obstruct the scope of the investigation.

Home Secretary John Reid, who was in Brussels briefing his European counterparts on the Litvinenko affair, said: "The police will follow the evidence wherever it goes."

The main figure the British counter-terrorism team wants to question is Andrei Lugovoy, a former FSB agent.

He made three visits to London in the fortnight before Litvinenko fell ill and met the former Russian spy four times at various restaurants and bars.

Mr Lugovoy, a successful businessman, was briefly imprisoned in Moscow after he left the FSB. Following his release, his business career thrived and his company is reported to be worth more than $250 million.

Two hotels in London in which Mr Lugovoy stayed had traces of polonium-210, as did a British Airways plane he travelled on.

He was among three Russians who last met Litvinenko at London's Millennium Hotel on November 1, the day he fell ill.

Mr Lugovoy said yesterday that he and two business associates, Dmitri Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko, were ready to meet the British detectives.

They all deny involvement in any poison plot.

Mr Lugovoy says he and his wife and children have been contaminated by polonium-210, and says he is being framed for the killing.

British intelligence officials believe a sizeable team was sent from Moscow to smuggle radioactive polonium-210 into Britain and to shadow Litvinenko.

The judgment by British intelligence has been strengthened by the knowledge that the FSB has legislative approval for eliminating terrorists and enemies of the state overseas after the passing of a controversial anti-terrorism law this year.

The Yard team that arrived in Moscow has been told to take as long as it needs. Unlike orthodox terrorist attacks, there is little chance that the killer is still in Britain and ready to strike again.

British detectives have been warned to expect official obstruction from Moscow.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair and his senior officers are being briefed daily on the progress of the investigation.

Britain's Health Protection Agency said police had asked them to examine three addresses for traces of polonium-210.