Key figure pulls out of giving evidence in Litvinenko inquiry

Guardian News and Media/LondonA key figure in the inquiry into the killing of Alexander Litvinenko has announced he will no longer give evidence this week. Dmitry Kovtun is accused of murdering Litvinenko in November 2006 during a meeting in the Millennium hotel in London. He and another Russian, Andrei Lugovoi, allegedly slipped radioactive polonium-210 into Litvinenko’s green tea.   In March, as the inquiry was wrapping up, Kovtun belatedly announced that he wanted to give evidence from Moscow. The chairman, Sir Robert Owen, agreed Kovtun could become a “core participant”. This entitled him to see 15,000 pages of evidence but not classified government files on the case reviewed by Owen in a recent secret session. Kovtun was supposed to testify by video today, tomorrow and Wednesday. However, the inquiry has now heard that Kovtun was pulling out, apparently citing his obligation to the “Russian investigation” into the case.Kovtun’s move appears to be a late spoiling manoeuvre, designed to torpedo the inquiry which was delayed for several months in order to accommodate him.Richard Horwell, counsel for Scotland Yard, said Russia’s “constant posturing engenders cynicism”. He said it appeared Kovtun’s offer to take part amounted to a fishing expedition designed to obtain “as much additional material from these proceedings as possible”.Adam Straw, acting for Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, said the Russian Federation was attempting to undermine and disrupt the inquiry. He asked Owen to draw appropriate inferences from this as to Moscow’s guilt. Earlier the inquiry heard evidence from a German witness who said Kovtun told him he intended to lure Litvinenko to a meeting in order to “finish him off” .The witness, known as D3, met Kovtun in Hamburg on October 30, 2006. Two days later Kovtun flew from Germany to London and allegedly poisoned Litvinenko.According to D3, Kovtun confessed to his role in the murder plot after a meal at a Hamburg restaurant, when they were both strolling together in the street. He and Kovtun had been friends since the late 1990s, and had worked together as waiters at Il Porto, an Italian restaurant in the city’s harbour.D3 told German police that out of the blue Kovtun mentioned Litvinenko’s name, and told him: “Litvinenko is a traitor. He has blood on his hands. He does deals with Chechens.” Kovtun then told D3 he was carrying “a very expensive poison” and that he needed a cook to put the poison into Litvinenko’s food and drink.