THE Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has offered to pay for the defence of a businessman suspected of involvement in the murder of a former Russian spy if he agrees to come to Britain to face any charges that may arise.

The businessman, Andrei Lugovoi, had tea with Alexander Litvinenko on the day he was poisoned with radioactive polonium210. In a telephone conversation earlier this month Berezovsky told Lugovoi, a former Russian intelligence officer, that he would “put together and pay for Britain’s best defence lawyers” if he agreed to return to London for trial.

Berezovsky, who was granted asylum in the UK, said: “I told Lugovoi that if he’s innocent there is no better place to prove it than in Britain. I have had many dealings with the British courts and I can say that they are completely independent and one is guaranteed a fair hearing here.”

Lugovoi, 41, met the dissident exile Litvinenko several times in London but denies involvement in the poisoning. He phoned Berezovsky on February 6 after the tycoon said in an interview that Litvinenko — who used to work for him — had accused Lugovoi as he lay dying “When I spoke to him, Berezovsky emphasised that he was only repeating Litvinenko’s words and not expressing his personal opinion,” said Lugovoi, who was questioned as a witness in Moscow last year by the Metropolitan police. “He encouraged me to go to London and said that he would guarantee a team of the best lawyers.

“I’m not ruling anything out at this stage but, considering the way I have been portrayed in Britain, I have my doubts that I can receive a fair hearing. It seems to me that public opinion there is rather negative. Anyway, so far I’m only a witness in the case.”

Berezovsky and Lugovoi have known each other for more than a decade. Lugovoi was chief of security at a Moscow television channel controlled by the tycoon. Until recently he provided bodyguards for relatives of the billionaire who visited Russia.

The two men last met at Berezovsky’s offices in Mayfair in late October, shortly before Litvinenko was poisoned.

Berezovsky said that British investigators who followed a radioactive trail of polonium around places visited by Lugovoi and his friend Dim-itry Kovtun had discovered strong traces on the sofa he sat on in the tycoon’s office.

He added: “Two facts cast suspicion on Lugovoi: the traces of polonium in my office and the fact that, so far, he won’t come to London to prove his innocence.”

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