The plot to kill Boris Berezovsky

Has the Kremlin declared open season on the Russian dissident community in London? Boris Berezovsky and the former Chechen rebel Akhmed Zakayev certainly think so. And it seems that British security officials share their fears. Yesterday the outspoken tycoon was taking no chances, after it emerged that a Russian man had been arrested and deported on suspicion of plotting to kill him.

Mr Berezovsky appeared at a news conference, held only 200 yards from Downing Street, accompanied by several bodyguards and a unit of London police, and accused Vladimir Putin of trying to kill him last month.

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Why would the Russian President embark on such a reckless project after fending off accusations that he was somehow responsible for the fatal radiation poisoning of Mr Berezovsky's employee Alexander Litvinenko last November?

"Because I am one of the most important witnesses in the Litvinenko murder," Mr Berezovsky said. The suspected murderer of the former KGB agent visited the Russian billionaire's office last November as he left a trail of polonium-210 across London, exposing hundreds of people to radiation contamination.

"They are trying to reach me because I concentrate a group of people who create real opposition, an opposition able to act, and I have enough money to support this opposition," Mr Berezovsky said. He added that he had funded the Russian opposition to the tune of $300-$400m (£146m-£195m) since fleeing Russia in 2001. He disclosed that Mr Zakayev, another close friend of Mr Litvinenko, also lived in fear of his life.

The timing of the first reports about the alleged murder plot against Mr Berezovsky, in yesterday's Sun newspaper, raised suspicions. They came 24 hours after Britain expelled four diplomats - presumed to be intelligence agents - over Russia's failure to hand over the prime murder suspect in the Litvinenko case, former Russian security agent Andrei Lugovoy, and as Russia's response was awaited.

They appeared to be one more volley fired by Mr Berezovsky in his war with the Kremlin since Mr Putin, his former ally, turned on the Russian oligarchs after becoming president. Mr Berezovsky is now a wanted man in Moscow, having been accused of embezzling millions from the Russian national airline Aeroflot - charges which he says are politically motivated.

Police and security sources have now confirmed, however, that a Russian man in his thirties was arrested by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch on 21 June after being tracked for a week by the police and MI5 when he arrived in this country.

The sources said the suspect arrived from Moscow and was followed while he made contact with a number of people in an attempt to buy a handgun. The police and MI5 waited to see whether he would be able to acquire a firearm before making a move, but a decision to arrest him was taken after he failed to do so.

The man was questioned at the high-security Paddington Green police station - used for terrorist suspects - for two days and then handed over to the immigration services, who revoked his visa and deported him.

One reason why the man was not charged was because he was not armed. And although intelligence had led the security agencies to believe that a plot was being organised against Mr Berezovsky, there was not enough presentable evidence to put before a court, according to security sources. It is believed the would-be assassin planned to murder Mr Berezovsky at the Hilton hotel in Park Lane.

Mr Berezovsky said yesterday that he had been advised by police to leave the country for a week, and only returned when the threat had been lifted.

He added that he had received "many threats" to his life, and had been advised in 2002 by police that a hit squad had been hired to kill him. "All these threats bear the hallmarks of the Russian security service," he said.

Mr Zakayev, who is also wanted by Moscow, in his case on terrorist charges, said last night that he had been advised by Scotland Yard on the day before a birthday party at his London home for Marina Litvinenko, the widow of the dead Russian agent, that his own life was in danger also.

"They asked me whether I could cancel it, but when I said that I could not, the police came along to the party," on 16 June, Mr Zakayev said. "After that, they took measures for my protection. Boris was supposed to come to the party but when I called him I realised that he was not in the country."

Security sources said that Mr Zakayev had reported death threats against him. One source said last night: "Berezovsky is a very high-profile critic of the Putin regime, and history does show that it would appear that the Russians are prepared to take action against their critics abroad."

Both Mr Berezovsky and Mr Zakayev were granted political asylum in Britain in 2003. Mr Berezovsky said: "It is very strange that the British Government protects a Russian citizen in London and... Russia tries to kill a Russian citizen in London."

Britain rules out trial compromise

A proposal by Boris Berezovsky that Andrei Lugovoy should be put on trial in a third country was ruled out by Britain yesterday. Earlier, ministers had appeared to show interest in the compromise as a way of ending the standoff over the extradition of Mr Lugovoy, chief murder suspect in the Litvinenko case.

Gordon Brown's office appeared to have opened the way to a possible hearing in another country or territory, but later confirmed it would only consider a trial in Britain. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "We want Mr Lugovoy tried in a UK court. That means on British soil and British soil means in the UK."

The spokesman earlier said only that the trial should take place in a British court - raising the prospect of a hearing in a third country as in the case of a Libyan convicted for the 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie.

Mr Berezovsky repeated that he was prepared to stand trial in a third country, so long asMr Lugovoy appeared in the court. Jim Murphy, a Foreign Office minister, said Britain hoped the diplomatic tit-for-tat over the expulsion of the four Russian diplomats from London would not be widened. "It was a decision taken with deep, deep regret," he told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, travelled to Paris and Berlin to shore up support for the Government's position. The EU's presidency, Portugal, issued a statement of support, saying: "The EU expresses its disappointment at Russia's failure to co-operate constructively with the UK authorities."

Underlining EU solidarity with Britain, it said the issue "raises important questions of common interest to EU member states," adding that Litvinenko's murder was "a grave and reckless crime". The German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, expressed his hope that there would not be a crisis between Russia and Europe.