Uk Tried To Recruit Me - Lugovoi

[TriWooOx]

Quote: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.

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."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6706921.stm