Dead Russian ex-agent was a Putin's fierce critic
Nov 25, 2006 - 1:35:06 AM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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Perhaps most notably, he alleged that the Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri was trained by the FSB in Dagestan in the years before 9/11.
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By DPA,
[RxPG] London/Moscow, Nov 24 - Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian agent who died in London late Thursday after an alleged poison attack, had long been a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin - even before he became president of Russia in 2000.
As a former lieutenant colonel in the Russian secret service, Litvinenko, 43, had been looking over his shoulder ever since defecting to Britain six years ago.
His life, and now death, could have come straight from a spy novel. He remained defiant until the end, accusing Putin directly of 'silencing' him.
Before he fled Russia, Litvinenko had focused his activities on investigating corruption and famously accused Putin in 1998 of ordering him to assassinate Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky.
He was close to journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an opponent of the Kremlin who was shot dead last month, and said recently that he was investigating her murder.
Litvinenko was taken ill after being handed documents relating to her death in London three weeks ago, and insisted he was poisoned during a meeting with Russian contacts.
But Litvinenko is perhaps best known for a book in which he alleges that Federal Security Service - agents coordinated the 1999 apartment block bombings in Russia, in which more than 300 people were killed.
Putin, then prime minister, blamed that attack on Chechen rebels and, as a consequence, later sent troops into Chechnya to crush the separatist movement.
Litvinenko first became a security agent in the FSB's predecessor, the Soviet-era KGB, later rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He was subsequently arrested on charges of abusing his office and spent nine months in a remand centre before being acquitted.
Litvinenko wrote 'Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within', in which he accused FSB agents of carrying out the 1999 apartment block bombings.
Complaining of persecution, he fled to Britain in 2000 where he was granted asylum and was recently given British citizenship.
Appearing alongside high profile opponents of Putin, he continued to make allegations about his former bosses.
Perhaps most notably, he alleged that the Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri was trained by the FSB in Dagestan in the years before 9/11.
Litvinenko's death remains a mystery, as doctors say that they have so far been unable to find the cause. Russia has strenuously denied being involved in his death.
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