Russia spy murder seen as G8 topic

MOSCOW, June 1 (UPI) -- The ongoing saga of the Russian spy murder may be a topic for discussion at the Group of Eight meeting.

Certainly, it is expected to be a topic for bilateral discussion between British Premier Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit in Germany.

On Thursday, the main suspect in the murder of a former Russian spy accused the British intelligence service of being behind the killing. Andrei Lugovoy, the man Scotland Yard's anti-terror unit believes to be behind the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, accused multiple parties of being responsible for the killing.

Lugovoy said at a news conference in Moscow he had unspecified "evidence" that MI6 has had a hand in the murder, or at least that the British spy service let it happen. MI6 had tried to recruit him to dig up embarrassing material about Russian President Vladimir Putin and his family, he said.

He also claimed exiled oligarch Boris Beresowski may have had a hand in the killing. He held the news conference only a few days after London asked the Kremlin to extradite him so he could be tried in a British court.

The Russian constitution forbids extraditing its own citizens and observers say it is unlikely Russian investigators would find Lugovoy guilty.