British investigators leave Moscow for London

Dec 20, 2006, 15:37 GMT

Moscow - Scotland Yard investigators who had been in Moscow to investigate the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko have returned to London, the British Embassy in Moscow said Wednesday.

'Having conducted their work in Moscow, our team of detectives returned to London today,' an embassy spokesman said in remarks run by Interfax, adding that the investigators had thanked Russia's Prosecutor General's Office for the help it had given.

The roughly 10 detectives arrived in Moscow December 4, after British prosecutors opened an investigation into Litvinenko's death. The onetime KGB man and Kremlin critic died in London November 23, weeks after he is believed to have been poisoned by the radioactive isotope polonium-210.

Russian media have reported the British police took testimony from 10 witnesses while in Moscow. Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, Russian businessmen who met with Litvinenko November 1, the day he first fell ill, were among the interrogated.

Russia's top prosecutor, Yury Chaika, set tough ground rules for the British officials in Moscow, however. In particular, Chaika ensured all questioning was conducted by Russian prosecutors, with their British colleagues allowed merely to sit in.

The British press has reported authorities in London were dissatisfied with Moscow's cooperation, with some newspapers alleging the Russians did not ask questions the Scotland Yard team had prepared.

London police representatives, however, have refused to confirm these reports, demurring that 'newspapers can write what they want.'

Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has repeatedly said its British counterparts expressed their appreciation and satisfaction with the access Moscow allowed.

Scotland Yard has yet to mention any leads in a case that has caught the world's attention by dint of the Cold War-style intrigue surrounding it.

Russia has opened its own investigation not only into Litvinenko's death but also into an assassination attempt on Kovtun, who it says was also poisoned. Both Kovtun and Lugovoi are said to be in a 'closed' Moscow hospital for observation for radiation poisoning.

After traces of polonium were found in a Hamburg apartment Kovtun stayed in en route to London, German officials on December 10 opened an investigation into his alleged spreading of radioactive material.

Radiation has also been detected in a dozen places in London, including Emirates Stadium, home to football club Arsenal and the venue for a Champions League qualifying game Lugovoi and Kovtun attended on November 1.