RUSSIA:The man accused of killing a former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko claims he is no "Russian James Bond". Alexander Lugovoy instead pointed the finger at the employers of the fictional 007 and said British intelligence could have murdered Mr Litvinenko.
In a press briefing that seemed to cross into the territory of the spy thriller, Mr Lugovoy also claimed he was approached by British MI6 agents to gather blackmail material on Russian president Vladimir Putin.
British agents, Boris Berezovsky or Russian mafia gangs seeking revenge could have carried out the poisoning, Mr Lugovoy suggested. He also claimed that both Mr Litvinenko and his employer Mr Berezovsky, the self-exiled Russian tycoon, had been recruited by British intelligence - a new twist in the bizarre tale.
Denying he had any role in the slow death of his former colleague, he scoffed at the notion that he could somehow have procured the polonium from a secure research centre.
"Do they think they found a Russian James Bond, who entered into nuclear centres and then poisoned his friends and family?" he asked, denying he fitted this image.
He described "Sasha" (Mr Litvinenko) as someone who had become increasingly despondent about his life in London, complaining about repeated cuts in the stipend he received from Mr Berezovksy.
Mr Litvinenko, he said, was also bitterly disappointed that his efforts to convince him (Mr Lugovoy) to become a British agent had failed, weakening his (Mr Litvinenko's) usefulness to British intelligence.
Of his own movements in London in early November when Mr Litvinenko fell ill, Mr Lugovoy accused the real killers of deliberately leaving traces of polonium wherever he had been so that he would take the blame. But he said he would not voluntarily travel to London to face charges, as he would not get a fair trial.
The Moscow businessman also spoke of his meetings with British secret agents and said he had been given both a mobile phone and a Russian novel, which would be used to relay covert messages through a second copy in Mr Litvinenko's possession.
"The British basically asked me to start collecting any compromising material on President Putin and members of his family," he said.
Hypothesising about a possible motive for the murder of Mr Litvinenko, he said he had claimed to possess compromising material on Mr Berezovsky, which would compromise his right to political asylum in Britain.
There was a swift reaction both from the British authorities and from Mr Berezovsky, who acted as a pallbearer at Mr Litvinenko's funeral.
The British embassy in Moscow insisted that the prosecution charges levied against Mr Lugovoy were based on criminal detective work and not linked to the intelligence world. Mr Berezovsky said Mr Lugovoy's comments proved beyond doubt that the Kremlin was behind Mr Litvinenko's murder.
"Everything about Mr Lugovoy's words and presentation made it obvious he is speaking on Kremlin instruction," he said.