British inquiry on Litvinenko ends

The inquiry into Litvinenko's murder heard about 62 witnesses since January this year. It came to a close on Friday.

"I believe that the truth has finally been uncovered. The murderers and their paymaster have been unmasked," Litvinenko's wife Marina told reporters outside the London High Court.

Alexander Litvinenko was believed to have been poisoned by Moscow spies Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun in London in 2006.

"My husband was killed by agents of the Russian state in the first-ever act of nuclear terrorism on the streets of London. This would not have happened without the knowledge and consent of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," she added.

Marina Litvinenko's lawyer Ben Emmerson also pointed fingers at the Russian president, whom he called a "tinpot despot." Emmerson said Putin's motive seemed to be "a combination of revenge and the need to prevent further damning disclosures about Kremlin-backed organized crime."

"A mangled clump of debris" containing high levels of polonium was found in the wastepipe of a sink in a bedroom of the Millennium Hotel, where Kovtun had stayed during his visit to London, Emmerson told the inquiry.

The chemical used to kill Litvinenko was "highly concentrated and almost entirely pure," he said. The only place where polonium of such purity was being produced was in Avangard near Moscow, the lawyer added.

A further setback to UK-Russia relations

The former Russian spy was poisoned in November 2006 by Russian agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, who laced Litvinenko's tea with the radioactive isotope polonium-210. British police have accused Lugovoi and Kovtun of carrying out the killing, but both have denied involvement and Moscow has refused to extradite them.

Investigations into Litvinenko's death have also been delayed because of the UK's reluctance to release information on the Russian ex-spy's activities with British intelligence agencies. An inquiry headed by Judge Robert Owen was launched last year, but did not publicize secret evidence.

British scientists and detectives, however, told the examiners that scientific evidence pointed towards the guilt of Kovtun and Lugovoi and that traces of polonium were found in hotels and restaurants they visited across London.

Judge Owen is due to report by the end of this year on who killed Litvinenko. Putin's involvement could be a likely factor in worsening Moscow's relations with London, already tarnished by the MH17 crash and the Ukraine crisis.

mg/sgb (AFP, AP)