Ex-spy accuses Putin from beyond grave

LONDON: Former spy Alexander Litvinenko blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his death in a posthumous letter on Friday, condemning him for what he had done to "beloved Russia and its people."   

The letter, dictated on November 21, said: "You have shown yourself to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women.  

"You succeeded in silencing one man but protests from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.”

"May God forgive you for what you have done not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people," Litvinenko wrote in the letter, read by Alex Goldfarb.   

The statement, read on the steps of University College Hospital, said of Putin: "You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.” 

"You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value."   

Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death on Thursday but his friends have accused Moscow because of the former secret serviceman's criticisms of the Kremlin.

Litvinenko's tearful father Walter said through a translator: "This regime is a mortal danger to the world."