UK will not hold public inquiry into Litvinenko poisoning

Britain will not be holding a public inquiry into the murder of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, a coroner said on Friday, after declaring his own investigation was flawed because it could not examine whether Moscow was behind the killing.

Litvinenko, 43, died after drinking tea poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope in a plush London hotel, and from his deathbed he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his murder, a charge Russia has repeatedly denied. (Reuters)