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NYBob

12/27/06 10:45 PM

#4 RE: NYBob #3

Spy widow points finger at Russia -

Marina Litvinenko


Mrs Litvinenko said her husband had been a
"very good friend"
The widow of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko
has said she believes the Russian authorities could
have been behind his murder.

Marina Litvinenko, 44, told the Mail on Sunday:
"Obviously it was not Putin himself, of course not."

But she said what President Putin
"does around him in Russia makes it possible to kill
a British person" in Britain.

Two Metropolitan Police officers have tested positive
for traces of radioactive substance polonium-210.

Mrs Litvinenko said she had confidence UK police
would find her husband's killer, but would not
help Russia's planned probe.

She told the Mail on Sunday Russian authorities
had not yet been in touch with her.


We were both completely sure he would recover
Marina Litvinenko

"I do not think I will help them with their
investigations," she said.

"I can't believe that they will tell the truth.
I can't believe if they ask about evidence they
will use it in the proper way."

Mr Litvinenko died in a London hospital on 23 November
after being poisoned by polonum-210.

The Metropolitan Police said two of the 26 police
officers closely involved in the subsequent inquiry
had tested positive for traces of the substance.

It said the polonium traces were "relatively small"
and were "below defined safety limits".

Both officers are being monitored by health
specialists.

Alexander Litvinenko


Mr Litvinenko's widow said he had alienated the FSB

Mrs Litvinenko also told the Mail on Sunday her husband's
last words to her were: "Marina, I love you so much."

She also said she and "Sasha", as her husband was known
to family and friends, had been convinced
he would recover.

"Even until the last day, and the day before when he
became unconscious, I thought he would be okay...

"We had been talking about bone-marrow transplants
and looking to the future."

Mrs Litvinenko said the couple's 12-year-old son had
found his father's death "very difficult", but he
had been trying to comfort his mother.

Friends of Mr Litvinenko believe he was poisoned
because of his criticisms of the Russian government,
but the Kremlin has dismissed suggestions it was
involved in any way.

After Mr Litvinenko's death Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said: "We don't consider it possible to
comment on the statements accusing the Kremlin because
it is nothing but sheer nonsense."

Russia's foreign intelligence service has also issued
a statement denying any involvement.

Mrs Litvinenko told the Sunday Times she had decided
to speak out after some "completely untrue" reports
suggested her husband was a man of dubious character.

She told the paper he had been an honest man and a
crime fighter rather than a spy.

She said her husband's public claims about his former
employers at the FSB, Russia's secret police, had
alienated them.

'Targets'

Speaking on BBC One's Breakfast AM, Vladimir Bukovsky,
a Soviet dissident and a close friend of
Mr Litvinenko's, said it was "clear" the Russian
authorities were behind the poisoning.

He said a law had been passed in Russia earlier this
year enabling the president "to eliminate his
particular enemies anywhere, including outside of
Russian territory".

Mr Bukovsky said the definition of "enemies" included
anyone engaged in libellous criticism of
the Russian administration.

He added: "Right as the law was passed the number two
in the Kremlin hierarchy the Minister of Defence
Sergei Ivanov made a statement saying that the
list of potential targets was already composed.

"Now what else do you need? Then followed the murder
of Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko
and there will be others to follow."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6165913.stm