MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) - A key witness in the poisoning death of former Russian security service defector Alexander Litvinenko said Monday he has again been questioned by investigators probing the case.
"Today I met with representatives of the [Russian] Prosecutor General's Office and the British police, and gave comprehensive answers to all their questions," Kovtun, also a former security service agent, told RIA Novosti. He stopped short of revealing any details.
Kovtun, who had his first interview with Russian prosecutors and detectives from Scotland Yard December 6, met with Litvinenko in a London hotel November 1, shortly before the defector complained of feeling ill and was hospitalized with symptoms of poisoning.
Litvinenko died three weeks later, on November 23, following an alleged deathbed statement implicating Russian President Vladimir Putin in his death. Doctors detected a lethal dose of the radioactive substance polonium-210 in his body.
Kovtun, currently undergoing tests for radiation at a Moscow hospital, said it is unclear at this point when the results of his tests will be released.
A week ago, police in the German city of Hamburg found traces of polonium-210 in locations visited by Kovtun before his trip to London, but the agent-turned-businessman has repeatedly denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death, insisting that he is himself a victim.
He has told investigators and the media that he met with Litvinenko already in October, well before their November 1 meeting, and that polonium traces detected in Hamburg subsequent to his arrival there October 28 from Moscow could be linked to that previous meeting.
