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Speculation On Litvinenko Killing Continues

PRAGUE, November 27, 2006 -- Andrei Lugovoi, a former Russian spy, says those who poisoned Aleksandr Litvinenko could in fact have been targeting Akhmed Zakayev, the London-exiled Chechen separatist envoy.

Litvinenko, a former officer for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), died on November 23 in London after being poisoned by a major dose of radioactive polonium-210. He had defected to Britain in 2000 after becoming a fierce Kremlin critic.

In an article published today in the Russian daily "Moskovsky komsomolets," Lugovoi says he is not sure Litvinenko was the target, since a lot of people want to kill Zakayev and the two men worked together closely.

Many observers have pinned the blame for Litvinenko's death on Russian secret services. But Russia denied any involvement.

Former spy Aleksei Kandaurov told Ekho Moskvy radio station on November 26 that he shared this view.

"Taking into account who Litvinenko was, unfortunately, and God forbid -- and I reiterate, God forbid -- we should regard the involvement of our special forces as the most likely [scenario]," Kandaurov said.

However, he added that he was "absolutely sure" that Russian President Vladimir Putin -- himself a former FSB officer -- has no connection to Litvinenko's poisoning.

"Although formally we have the vertical power structure, in reality it is very fragmentary, and sometimes it is not at all clear who makes decisions," Kandaurov said. "But I think -- I am sure with regard to Litvinenko -- if we assume, God forbid, that our special forces are involved, I am absolutely sure that Putin did not order it, as he should have calculated the consequences."

In Britain, local government officials today said the country will start an official inquiry into Litvinenko's death expected to begin on November 30.

(Interfax, AP, mk.ru)

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org