Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov strongly denied claims
that Russia's intelligence service was involved in the death of
former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.
"I rule out this possibility and see no sense in it. I was not
personally acquainted with Litvinenko, but I know that he worked in
a division of the Federal Security Service (FSB) which dealt with
organized crime," Ivanov said while interviewed by Germany's Der
Spiegel magazine, the transcript of the interview being posted
on the ministry's website on Tuesday.
Litvinenko died of radioactive poisoning on Thursday in London,
after being exposed to polonium 210. British police are studying
CCTV footage from security cameras after finding radioactive traces
at three separate London locations visited by Litvinenko.
Litvinenko was an open critic of the FSB and had been arrested
several times. He fled to Britain with his wife and son in November
2000 and was granted asylum, becoming a British citizen last
month.
Shortly before his death, he accused the Kremlin of
orchestrating his poisoning, an accusation Moscow vehemently
denies.
An official of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office was
quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying on Tuesday that the
office "is ready to assist Scotland Yard in its investigation of
the circumstances surrounding the death" of Litvinenko. As of yet,
Russia had not received any requests from Britain, the official
added.
(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2006)