By Country / Russia
Berezovsky 'Warned' On Assassination Plot
July 19, 2007
July 19, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky has told RFE/RL that he was warned by friends in Moscow that a plot was being prepared to assassinate him in London.
In an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service, Berezovsky said that he was warned that the alleged plotter would be someone he knew.
"A person would come from Moscow who I knew and who would ask to meet with me, and who during our meeting would simply kill me," Berezovsky said.
British police said on July 18 that they arrested a man -- believed to be a foreigner -- last month in connection with an alleged plot to murder Berezovsky.
A police spokeswoman said the man was arrested in London on June 21, and was handed over to immigration officials two days later.
Advised To Leave
Berezovsky, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told RFE/RL that British police warned him in June about an assassination plot and advised him to leave the country temporarily.
Berezovsky said he had left Britain on June 16 for a week, until police told him the plot had been foiled.
The revelations come amid high tensions between Britain and Russia over Russia's refusal to extradite the chief suspect in the radiation poisoning of former Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko.
Berezovsky was among the first to accuse the Kremlin of ordering Litvinenko's murder.
Britain has repeatedly refused Russia's request to extradite Berezovsky to face fraud charges in Russia.
(Read the full interview with Berezovsky here)