London: A former Russian spy who died in an apparent poisoning signed a statement on his deathbed blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for his death, friends said Friday. The British government said Alexander Litvinenko's death was linked to a radioactive substance in his body.
British Home Secretary John Reid said experts had been called in to search for ‘residual radioactive material' at a number of locations as police investigate the cause of Litvinenko's death.
Reid said in a statement that Litvinenko's death was ''linked to the presence of a radioactive substance in his body.'' Litvinenko's statement, read to reporters outside the hospital where the ex-spy died late Thursday, accused the Russian leader of having ''no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value.''
''You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women,'' Litvinenko said in a statement read by his friend Alex Goldfarb.
''You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.''
Goldfarb said Litvinenko had dictated the statement before he lost consciousness on Tuesday, and signed it in the presence of his wife, Marina.
Putin's government has strongly denied involvement.
''The allegations against Russia in this respect are nothing but nonsense,'' said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov before Litvinenko's statement was made public.
''It's so silly and unbelievable that it's not worth comment,'' Peskov said in Helsinki, Finland, where Putin is attending a summit with European Union leaders.
''Now the case will be investigated by relevant British services and we hope that those who are standing behind this case will be brought to justice,'' he added.
Litvinenko, a vociferous critic of the Russian government, suffered heart failure late Thursday after days in intensive care, London's University College Hospital said. Doctors said the cause of his illness remained a mystery, discounting an earlier theory that the 43-year-old father of three had been poisoned with the toxic metal thallium or a radioactive substance.
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