LONDON (AP) - A former KGB agent who died in an apparent poisoning dictated a statement in the waning hours of his life, blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin and describing him "as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed." Putin said Friday there was no proof it was a "violent death." Alexander Litvinenko, a former spy turned Kremlin critic, signed the statement in the presence of his wife before losing consciousness, said Alex Goldfarb, a friend who read it aloud outside the hospital Friday.
In his first public comment on Litvinenko's death, Putin said at a summit in Helsinki, Finland, that his passing was a tragedy and extended his condolences to his family.
But the Russian leader said British medical documents did not show "that it was a result of violence, this is not a violent death, so there is no ground for speculations of this kind."
Home Secretary John Reid, Britain's top law enforcement official, said experts had been called in to search for radioactive material at a number of locations as police investigate the cause of Litvinenko's death Thursday night. Reid said the death was "linked to the presence of a radioactive substance in his body."
Putin's government had earlier strongly denied involvement in Litvinenko's death, calling the allegation "nothing but nonsense."
"It's so silly and unbelievable that it's not worth comment," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Helsinki, Finland, where Putin is attending a summit with European Union leaders.
