Litvinenko 'Coughing' At Meeting With Suspects

Alexander Litvinenko was already coughing when he met two men accused of spiking his drink with a radioactive substance, the inquiry into his death has heard.

Dmitri Kovtun - who is suspected of involvement in the former KGB spy's death - was due to give evidence to the inquiry by video link from Moscow but pulled out at the 11th hour.

He was told to appear by 9am on Tuesday morning by chairman Sir Robert Owen but as the deadline passed it was confirmed he would not be participating.

Instead, the inquiry heard Mr Kovtun's written evidence, which Sir Robert ruled should be made public, despite Russian requests for it to remain private.

Mr Kovtun claimed that during a key meeting at London's Milennium Hotel in 2006, Mr Litvinenko was "excited" and "coughing" when "he came to the bar of the Millenium Hotel and flopped down on a seat at our table".

He said that Mr Litvinenko grabbed a teapot from the table and poured two cups, which he drank as he continued coughing through the conversation.

British authorities believe there is evidence that businessman Mr Kovtun and another Russian, Andrei Lugovoi, laced Mr Litvinenko's green tea with polonium-210 at the hotel.

In his written statement, Mr Kovtun claimed he formed the impression that Mr Litvinenko "had mental health problems" and "would do anything to achieve his financial goals" as he asked him to come to a risk management company to demonstrate some phone tapping technology.

He said he told Mr Lugovoi he "did not want anything to do with him" after the meeting.

Earlier, a video link was briefly switched on to show the inquiry's official in Moscow sitting next to an empty chair.

Asked if he had communicated with Mr Kovtun, the representative said: "I spoke to him about 45 minutes ago. He told me that he will not take part today or tomorrow.

Sir Robert laid out the inquiry's dealings with Mr Kovtun - who had claimed to be bound by obligations of confidentiality to an ongoing Russian investigation - and the Russian authorities.

He said: "This unhappy sequence of events drives me to the conclusion either that Mr Kovtun never in truth intended to give evidence and that this has been a charade.

"Alternatively, if he has at some stage been genuine in his expressed intention to give evidence, obstacles have been put in the way of his doing so.

"In either case I will not have the progress of the inquiry further disrupted."