Key witness in Litvinenko poisoning is questioned again

A key witness in the poisoning death of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko today faced a second round of questioning by British investigators, news reports said.

Dmitry Kovtun, who is undergoing treatment for radiation poisoning at a Moscow clinic, told the RIA Novosti news agency that he gave “exhaustive” answers to Russian prosecutors and British investigators during today’s meeting.

Kovtun, who was questioned by Scotland Yard detectives earlier this month, refused to elaborate on his interrogation, citing a pledge not to divulge its details.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s office refused immediate to comment on the report.

Litvinenko died on November 23 in London after being poisoned with polonium-210 and in a deathbed accusation blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin – an allegation the Kremlin vehemently denied.

Kovtun, and his business associate, Andrei Lugovoi, met with Litvinenko in a London hotel on November 1, the day he fell ill.

German authorities have found traces of polonium-210 in several locations in Hamburg visited by Kovtun just before he flew to London for the November 1 meeting. The Interfax news agency said the second questioning of Kovtun was prompted by the developments in Germany.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s office said Kovtun had been diagnosed with radiation poisoning.

Traces of polonium-210 have now been confirmed in a Hamburg apartment of Kovtun’s ex-wife, where he spent two nights in late October, and the car that picked him up from the Hamburg airport when he arrived from Moscow. Tests on Kovtun’s ex-wife, her partner and their two children had found no trace of their contamination.

German prosecutors are investigating Kovtun on suspicion that he may have illegally handled radioactive material. They have left open whether the radioactive trail meant he might have been involved in Litvinenko’s poisoning, saying that he may have been a victim or could have been involved in procuring the polonium.

German Ambassador to Moscow Walter Schmid said German investigators could decide to travel to Russia to continue the probe, but added that they hadn’t made the decision yet, the ITAR-Tass and RIA Novosti news agencies reported.

Lugovoi, Kovtun and a third associate who was in London with them on the weekend of November 1, Vyacheslav Sokolenko, have denied involvement in Litvinenko’s death.