RUSSIA: Former KGB Major-General Aleksei Kandaurov rules out President Vladimir Putin ordering Alexander Litvinenko's killing but thinks Russian Special Forces could be involved

Former KGB Major-General Aleksei Kandaurov told Ekho Moskvy Radio Station on Sunday (November 26) that he ruled out President Vladimir Putin's involvement in the death by radiation of Alexander Litvinenko earlier this week in London. He said that while Litvinenko blamed Putin in a death-bed statement for his death, he said the Russian president was actually a victim in the affair. "In reality, those who suffered from this case (death of Litvinenko) are: first of all the deceased (Litvinenko), as he does not exist any more and I want to express my condolences to his family and his friends. Second, it is his family, his relatives and his friends who suffered morally. And thirdly, the one who suffered most of all was Mr. Putin (President Vladimir Putin) whose reputation was damaged," he said to the audience during the live transmission. Kandaurov, though very cautiously, did not rule out the involvement of Russia's security forces forces. "Though formally we have the vertical power (authority) but in reality it is actually very fragmentary and sometimes it is not clear at all who makes decisions. But I think, I am sure in regard to Litvinenko, if we assume, God save us, that our Special Forces are involved, I am absolutely sure (President Vladimir) Putin had not ordered it as he (Putin) should have calculated the consequences," he told Ekho Moskvy Radio Station. Kandaurov is convinced it is in the interests of president Putin to fully cooperate with Great Britain and investigate the mysterious death.

ITN Source | November 27, 2006

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