Poisoning accused: I may come to UK

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Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died of radioactive polonium poisoning in a London hospital two years ago. He had fallen ill shortly after drinking tea during a meeting at a West End hotel with former KGB contacts Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun.

Mr Lugovoy, 42, was named by British prosecutors as the main suspect in the murder of the Russian dissident.

But in a meeting over tea in Moscow, he told a reporter from The Times that he would like Mr Kovtun - his childhood friend and the main witness in the case - to travel to London to clear their names.

"We have an idea for Dmitri to travel to London to talk to representatives of the prosecutors. We are looking for a way to achieve this if we could get guarantees from the Government of Great Britain," Mr Lugovoy told the paper.

He also did not rule out travelling to London later himself if Mr Kovtun was not handed over to Germany, where he remains under investigation by police after apparently leaving behind traces of radiation during a visit to Hamburg before the London meeting with Mr Litvinenko.

Mr Lugovoy would also want guarantees against his own arrest before making such a trip.

Mr Litvinenko's deathbed statement accused Mr Putin, then the Russian President, of ordering his assassination.

His murder led to angry exchanges after the Russian Government refused to extradite Mr Lugovoy, who denies any involvement in his death and has asserted that he was framed by MI6. "What was beneficial for Russia out of this situation? Russia didn't gain anything from it," he said.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said she could not comment on the case.