British Foil Plot To Murder Putin Critic

U.K. Police Confirm Arrest Of Man Suspected In Plotting Hit On Russian Tycoon In London

(CBS/AP)  Police said Wednesday they had arrested a man on suspicion of conspiring to murder Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky — a Kremlin critic and friend of the poisoned KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

The Metropolitan Police said they arrested the man in central London on June 21 and handed him over to immigration officials two days later.

Berezovsky, a London-based Russian émigré and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been the subject of an extradition tug-of-war between the two countries. He is sought by Moscow for trial on embezzlement and money-laundering charges.

Britain's refusal to extradite Berezovsky, who was granted British citizenship after fleeing Russia, has long angered the Kremlin.

CBS News correspondent Vicki Barker reports that the man detained by Scotland Yard last month was a Russian hit man whose target was Berezovsky. The police will not say who was behind the foiled plot.

"I was informed by Scotland Yard that there was a plot to kill me, and they recommended to me to leave the country," Berezovsky told The Associated Press.

Berezovsky said he first learned of the plot through contacts within Russia's Federal Security Service.

"They told me that someone I knew would come and kill me openly and present it as a business matter. He would say there was a disagreement over the business," he said.

According to Berezovsky, the killer would have served a minimal sentence: "According to British law, he will get 20 years. He will spend 10 years in jail, will be released, will have a lot of money and his family, will become hero of Russia, and this was the plan.

"I tell you in spite of a lot of problems which I have, including my protection, I didn't take it seriously."

Nonetheless, he said he left Britain for about a week; he returned when Scotland Yard told him the plot had been foiled.

Berezovsky had previously accused Putin in the 2006 poisoning death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London, saying he was personally "on top of the plot."

Litvinenko died Nov. 23 after ingesting radioactive polonium-210.

"Tell me, please, someone of you, how it's possible to produce polonium without state involvement?" Berezovsky said. "How it's possible to transport polonium without the state involvement? How it's possible to put polonium in the cup of tea of Litvinenko without the state involvement?"

A business tycoon and media owner who initially backed Putin but later became a vocal dissident, Berezovsky received political asylum in London, and later became a high-profile investor in a software company run by Neil Bush, Ignite! Learning.

He is currently being tried in absentia for embezzling 214 million rubles from Aeroflot. He is also wanted in Brazil on money-laundering charges. Lugovoi has claimed that Berezovsky supplied sensitive information about Russia to British intelligence agents.

He said Tuesday he would agree to a trial in a third country, though it was not clear whether he would accept a Russian court convened elsewhere.

A British security official who demanded anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence work, said, "Berezovsky is a very high-profile critic of the Putin regime, and history does show that it would appear that the Russians are prepared to take action against their critics abroad."

The official could not say whether British intelligence services believe Russia has tried to attack dissidents in London since Litvinenko's murder. But the official confirmed that about 30 Russian spies are believed to be based in London to monitor exiles in the city.

"I am happy that British are very strong in protecting people in this country," Berezovsky said on BBC television.

"It's absolutely useless to fight against a state alone. I don't have any chance to be alive if not for the protection of the state which gave me asylum," he said.

Russian Ambassador Yury Fedotov told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that Berezovsky's claim about a plot to assassinate him was "quite strange information, and I have nothing that could confirm it."

He alleged that Berezovsky is linked "to many criminal international schemes of money laundering, corruption and organized crime."

[prinzowhales]

President Putin may well have worked for the KGB, but lets take a look at Ford and Reagan--FBI informers....Bush41--Director of the CIA and also almost certainly photgraphed with his head turned down outside the Dallas Book Depository at the time of the JFK assassination and connected with the Miami CIA field station. We had Clinton who was recruited by the Agency... the so-called "Arkansas suicides" of those connected to Clinton is a phenomenon that has yet to surface in his wife's presidential campaign...including the obvious murder of Vince Foster.

Berezovsky is a terrorist financier. He is protected by the Crown.

America has respect for its citizens?--Ask the children of Waco about that "respect"... Ask Randy Weaver, his wife and child murdered by an FBI sharpshooter...Ask those reservist and national guardsmen who have been repeatedly called up to fight and die in an unconstitutional war about America's respect for "justice and fair play"....ask those jailed by the lies of police and labs--or the relatives of those tens of thousands murdered by Merck Pharmaceuticals' Vioxx...not one single person in jail...and the conspirators still open for business. Things are rough and ready in Russia but look at the prison population in the United States and the rates of violent crime.

Because Putin is standing against the criminals, he is reviled by the governments of, for and by the criminals in the UK and US.

[drinuk]

I'm a Brit and I'm firmly on the side of Putin on this one. This is Pot calling the Kettle black, these people have ripped off national wealth and we are giving then sanctuary. As for Putin turning back the clock, perhaps he is simply trying to keep Russia free from the corporate criminals like Big Pharma who have infiltrated our governments in the west to the extent that we are no longer free. Indeed the Chinese are having the same problems with these crooks. They want to have their hands in every pie and our government supports them doing as they are told.

[bradosol]

I'm British, a citizen of that vile country so obviously the centre of all the evil in the world.

How do we get it so wrong? Everyone who opposes us, individual or nation, is always so right.

Hint - criticise us, better still, vilify us - and just see the lovely new friends you'll get.

I think I'll make a cup of tea!

[rharrin1]

I think Russia is right since he is involved with the bush crime family hard to look innocent when you deal with crooks.

[zootallures2]

UK making stuff up to save face again? I not fond of either coutries, but I'm possitive Russia could wipe the UK off the map.

[prinzowhales]

Conspiracy to commit murder? Sentence-- deportation? Talk about an obviously fabricated media event. The terrorist financier, BOR-ISSS Berezovsky, gets to pose as a victim of the wicked Russians...He is a thief. He is a liar. He is protected by the Crown, the rats of the City and the new Labour regime that serves them.

[steve3433]

Yesterday RAF fighters had to incept two TU95 bombers heading towards British airspace. The conspiracy loons can bury their heads in the sand but Russia is a country run be gangsters and ex KGB officials. You really have to live in Russia for some time to understand the Russian way of thinking. Justice and openness are not easy concepts for them to understand. The UK or USA are not angels but most of us believe in fairplay and freedom. Russia operates in reverse and has very little respect for its own citizens.

[dkrants]

Let's see: First Britain wants Russia to extradite Lugovoi (which is by the way against Russian Constitution). The next day British authorities arrest alleged Berezovsky killer and guess what.... DEPORT him back to Russia.
This doesn't look right to me.
Also, another report says that the alleged killer didn't even have a gun when he walked into the hotel to supposedly kill Berezovsky.

[starfinch]

Beware of strange men in furry hats.