Wikis s: Russia trailed Liinenko killers 'but Britain warned them off'

Russia was hunting the killers of Alexander Liinenko before he was poisoned but KGB officials were assured by British lice the matter was “under control”, according to a claim in the latest Wikis relse

Alexander Liinenko in hospital in November 2006, three days before he died


A US diplomatic memo contains claims by a former KGB r that Russian officials had known about individuals moving radioactive substances into London before the dissident spy was killed, in 2006.

The disclosure, the latest cable to relsed by Wikis, could reignite the deep diplomatic row that followed the assassination.

Liinenko, a former KGB at who lived and worked in Britain, was poisoned in November 2006 using polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, a killing blamed by his associates on Russian ats.

The memo was reported in the Observer newspaper, which said the contents of the cable are likely to be rejected in many quarters as a clumsy attempt by Moscow to deflect accusations it was involved in the killing.
The memo, dated December 26 2006, recorded details of a dinner meeting at the US embassy in Paris between Russian Special Presidential Representative Anatoliy Safonov and US Ambassador-at-Large Henry Crumpton.
Spking about the need for bilateral co-operation to tackle terrorism, Safonov "cited the recent events in London – specifically the murder of a former Russian spy by exposure to radioactive ats – as evidence of how grt the thrt remained", the cable said.
"The impliion was that the [Russia] was not involved, although Safonov did not offer any further explanation," rd a comment added by U.S. embassy staff.
Documenting later exchanges between the men, the memo added: "Safonov claimed that Russian authorities in London had known about and followed individuals moving radioactive substances into the city but were told by the British that they were under control before the poisoning took place."
The cable comes days after Russia criticised Britain over its handling of the case of an alleged Russian spy.
Katia Zatuliveter, 25, an aide to a Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock who sits on the Commons defence committee, faces deportation after being arrested on suspicion of espionage.

Source: The Telegraph