British minister criticises Putin

LONDON – A senior British government minister on Sunday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of presiding over attacks on liberty and democracy as anti-terrorist police investigated the radiation poisoning that killed a former Soviet spy.

British officials have avoided blaming Moscow for the death of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, killed by radioactive polonium-210, but opposition leaders called for a public explanation from the government of how the deadly nuclear material came to be in Britain. In the strongest comments levelled at Moscow since the ex-spy’s death, Cabinet minister Peter Hain accused Putin of presiding over “huge attacks on individual liberty and on democracy” and acknowledged that relations between London and Moscow were at a difficult stage.Hain, the government’s Northern Ireland secretary, said Putin’s tenure had been “clouded” by incidents “including an extremely murky murder of the senior Russian journalist” Anna Politkovskaya.Hain did not comment directly on the Litvinenko case.But he told British Broadcasting Corporation television that Putin’s economic achievements “must be balanced against the fact there have been huge attacks on individual liberty and on democracy and it’s important he retakes the democratic road, in my view.”Litvinenko, 43, a former KGB agent who was a fierce critic of Putin, died on Thursday of heart failure after falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by the radioactive element polonium-210.He believed he was poisoned on November 1 while investigating the October slaying of Politkovskaya, another critic of Putin’s government.Putin called the death a tragedy and denied involvement.Nampa-APIn the strongest comments levelled at Moscow since the ex-spy’s death, Cabinet minister Peter Hain accused Putin of presiding over “huge attacks on individual liberty and on democracy” and acknowledged that relations between London and Moscow were at a difficult stage.Hain, the government’s Northern Ireland secretary, said Putin’s tenure had been “clouded” by incidents “including an extremely murky murder of the senior Russian journalist” Anna Politkovskaya.Hain did not comment directly on the Litvinenko case.But he told British Broadcasting Corporation television that Putin’s economic achievements “must be balanced against the fact there have been huge attacks on individual liberty and on democracy and it’s important he retakes the democratic road, in my view.”Litvinenko, 43, a former KGB agent who was a fierce critic of Putin, died on Thursday of heart failure after falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by the radioactive element polonium-210.He believed he was poisoned on November 1 while investigating the October slaying of Politkovskaya, another critic of Putin’s government.Putin called the death a tragedy and denied involvement.Nampa-AP