When asked by Russian journalists if he believed that Mr Berezovsky, a former oil tycoon, was behind the murder, he smiled and said: "Our investigation has led us to conclude that only people living abroad could be interested in killing Politkovskaya.
"Forces interested in de-stabilising the country, in stoking crisis, in a return to the old system where money and oligarchs ruled, in discrediting national leadership, provoking external pressure on the country, could be interested in this crime.
"Anna Politkovskaya knew who ordered her killing. She met him more than once."
The thinly veiled accusation will raise the pressure on Mr Berezovsky, who met Miss Politkovskaya several times and has made no secret of his wish to overthrow Mr Putin.
It will also worsen relations with London, which expelled four Russian diplomats after Moscow refused to extradite the chief suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent, in London last year.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Russia Blames Berezovsky for Politkovskaya Murder
According to the Daily Telegraph (UK), the arrest of 10 suspects in Moscow for the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya is adding to Russian-UK tensions:
