Nuke murder: Brown shakes fist

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown described as “intolerable” Moscow’s refusal to hand over Andrei Lugovoi, deemed by Britain to be the chief suspect in the murder of ex-agent Alexander Litvinenko in London last November.

Speaking yesterday at his first news conference in Downing Street since he took office at the end of June, Brown said it was “very important” that Moscow understood the seriousness of the situation over the Litvinenko case.

“We want the Russian authorities to recognise, even at this stage, that it is their responsibility to extradite for trial the Russian citizen who has been identified by our prosecuting authorities,” said Brown.

“We cannot tolerate a situation where all the evidence is that not only was one person assassinated, but many others were put at risk.”

But in Moscow, Russia’s chief public prosecutor demanded evidence from the British police to prove the guilt of Lugovoi, a wealthy businessman and former KGB agent.

The evidence provided so far was not sufficient to prosecute Lugovoi, his deputy, Alexander Svyaginzev was quoted as saying. “We are prepared to start preliminary proceedings against Lugovoi, if there’s a solid basis. We are also prepared to collaborate with our British colleagues.”

According to the charge brought by the London public prosecutor, Lugovoi murdered former secret service agent Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium 210 in November 2006.

Russian Chief Prosecutor Andrei Mayorov said the British version of the murder had weaknesses. They ignored the fact that Lugovoi and his business partner Dmitri Kovtun had themselves become victims of the poisoning.

The British files did not mention whether traces of polonium had been found in places where Lugovoi stayed by himself during his trip to London.

According to Mayorov’s reports, the Russian police assume that Litvinenko had already been poisoned with polonium when he met Lugovoi and Kovtun and transmitted traces of polonium onto the two men on contact.

The controversy widened into a diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow last week with the expulsion of diplomats. — Sapa-DPA