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Spy witnesses mystery grows
15/12/2006 18:41 - (SA)
Moscow - British and Russian investigators questioned a witness on Friday in the radiation death of fugitive Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, as questions arose over the condition of two other key figures in the inquiry.
Interfax news agency quoted sources close to the inquiry as saying that Scotland Yard detectives and officials from the Russian prosecutor general's office interviewed Vyacheslav Sokolenko for more than four hours. Where the meeting took place was not clear.
Sokolenko - a former KGB officer who now works for a private bodyguard firm based in Moscow - was one of the last people to see Litvinenko on November 1 before the ex-security services agent turned fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin fell sick.
Litvinenko died November 23 from radioactive polonium 210 poisoning. More tests on Lugovoi
Meanwhile, questions grew over the health of two other vital witnesses - Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, who had met Litvinenko for drinks at the Millenium hotel in London just before Sokolenko arrived.
Lugovoi reportedly has been undergoing tests for radiation poisoning in Moscow. He had been quoted earlier as saying he expected to receive a doctor's final report by the end of this week.
However, Lugovoi said on Friday that "the medical investigation will continue next week", Interfax reported.
Lugovoi, who has already met once with British and Russian investigators, said he did not "exclude another interview", Interfax reported.
The news agency quoted an unidentified source as saying that Kovtun, who is said to be undergoing treatment for radiation poisoning, could be questioned on Monday or Tuesday - also for a second time. 'Victim of crime'
The prosecutor's office in Russia has classed Kovtun as a victim of a crime. However, in Germany he is a suspect in a criminal investigation for allegedly bringing polonium 210 into the country.
The Kommersant daily said both Lugovoi and Kovtun were being held at a special, closed hospital in Moscow, and suggested that their stay there was not entirely connected with their health.
"On Wednesday, Mr Kovtun announced he felt well and would probably be released from hospital by the end of the week," the daily said on Friday.
"The statement by the main witnesses in the Litvinenko affair about the need to continue their treatment came as soon as the British investigators expressed a desire to meet with their doctors."
RIA Novosti news agency quoted Sokolenko as saying that he had little to tell police. The only reason he went to London, he said, was to watch Moscow football team CSKA play Chelsea.
"I am a CSKA fan and all I can talk about is how the team played," he said.
- AFP
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