Litvinenko suspect in election run

He said that he had had no desire to go into politics, but changed his mind because of the British accusations against him.

 

 

Lugovoi has dismissed the British accusations and accused the British authorities of hurting his business interests.

 

“I have been involved in politics over the past three months against my wishes,” Lugovoi told Russia Today.

 

“I was a businessman, but no longer, thanks to the disgusting policy of British prosecutors which led to this political hysteria. With the situation being highly politicised by British opponents, I find myself in the midst of a political wave of interest in me.”

 

Litvinenko, a former KGB officer with asylum in Britain, died on November 23 in a London hospital after ingesting radioactive polonium-210. In a deathbed statement, he accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, of being behind his killing – charges the Kremlin has denied.

 

Tensions over the Litvinenko case have hurt the bilateral ties, and the two nations recently announced tit-for-tat diplomat expulsions.

 

Putin has dismissed British demands for Lugovoi’s extradition as a vestige of British “colonial thinking”.