Russian exile says London police foiled death plot

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) Self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky today said he was warned by British police that someone wanted to kill him in a plot which he said bore ''all the hallmarks of Russian security service activity''.

Berezovsky, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin whom he has blamed for the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, said he was advised to leave Britain briefly while police foiled an assassination plot.

''Three weeks ago the police informed me that they were aware that an assassin had been sent from Russia to kill me,'' Berezovsky said in a statement.

''I was advised by the police to leave the country if I could. I went overseas for a week and then the police informed me that I could return.'' Russia's ambassador to London said his government was not behind any alleged plot. Britain's interior ministry, police in London, and security sources all declined to discuss the issue.

''We don't comment on speculation about security matters,'' said Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official spokesman.

He stressed Britain had always made clear the decision to expel four Russian diplomats announced this week was because Moscow had refused to extradite the man suspected of killing Litvinenko, a British citizen.

Moscow and London are engaged in a furious diplomatic row over Russia's refusal to hand over the man, Andrei Lugovoy, who is suspected of poisoning Litvinenko with the rare radioactive isotope polonium 210 in London last year.

Moscow is expected to respond to the expulsions within the next 48 hours.

PUTIN CRITIC Berezovsky, who is being tried in absentia in Moscow for theft because Britain has refused to extradite him to Russia to face trial, said he has had many death threats in recent years.

''All of these threats bear the hallmarks of Russian security service activity and of course President Putin changed the law last year to empower agents to commit murder overseas,'' he said.

''So I am not surprised that they tried to kill me.'' Speaking to BBC television today, the multi-millionaire said the warning from London police echoed a similar one from a source in Russia about three months ago.

''Someone who I know would come to London and ask to meet me, and he would kill me openly ... and he would explain later that it was just business reasons,'' he said.

Russia's ambassador to London, Yury Viktorovich Fedotov, dismissed any suggestion the Russian government might have been behind the plot. ''That is excluded,'' he told BBC radio.

Asked what he thought about Berezovsky's comments he said: ''That is quite strange information and I have nothing that could confirm it. But on the other hand it does not surprise me because Berezovsky takes each and every opportunity ... to expose himself, to make himself a public figure.'' Fedotov accused Berezovsky of links with ''many criminal international scenes -- money laundering, corruption, and organised crime'' and said: ''He should know ... what kind of threats he may face.'' Berezovsky has accused Putin of being behind the murder of Litvinenko -- a charge Moscow denies -- and said he thought attempts on his life were also directed by the Russian leader.

Lugovoy, a former KGB security agent, has repeatedly said he is innocent of murder charges. He says Litvinenko was probably killed by fellow Russian emigres or British security services.

REUTERS SM PM2042