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UK tried to recruit me - Lugovoi | UK tried to recruit me - Lugovoi |
(10 minutes later) | |
The man suspected of poisoning ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London last year has said the British secret service tried to recruit him. | |
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Andrei Lugovoi said Mr Litvinenko was not his enemy and that he had been made a scapegoat. | |
Last week, the UK requested the extradition of Mr Lugovoi, who denies the charges, to be tried for the crime. | Last week, the UK requested the extradition of Mr Lugovoi, who denies the charges, to be tried for the crime. |
The Kremlin says Russia's constitution does not allow it to hand him over. | The Kremlin says Russia's constitution does not allow it to hand him over. |
Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after exposure to the radioactive isotope polonium-210. | |
Mr Lugovoi, also an ex-KGB agent, said he was "openly recruited as the British security service agent. They asked me to collect any... compromising information about [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and the members of his family." | |
He added that he lacked the motive to commit the crime: "Sacha [Litvinenko] was not my enemy. I didn't feel cold or hot from whatever he was doing, from the books that he was writing. I've been in business for a long time and I was not really interested." |