DID PUTIN TRY TO MURDER ANOTHER FORMER KGB AGENT IN GREAT BRITAIN?

TELEGRAPH: Russian KGB defector 'survives murder attempt at Surrey home'

Police in Surrey are investigating an alleged attempt to kill a KGB double agent who spied on Russia for British intelligence during the Cold War.

Oleg Gordievsky, a former Soviet colonel who defected to Britain in 1985, was taken by ambulance from his home to a hospital in Guildford after falling ill in November.

He believes he was poisoned by a Russian acquaintance, a former intelligence officer who visited him at his safe house in Surrey. After falling unconscious for 34 hours, he spent two weeks in a private clinic and was initially left partially paralysed. He still has no feeling in his fingers.

Mr Gordievsky, 69, fears he is the latest victim of revenge attacks on defectors. Alexander Litvinenko, his friend and another former Russian spy, was murdered in London in 2006.

DAILY MAIL:

Special Branch is investigating an alleged attempt to murder Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB double-agent who spied on Russia for British intelligence at the height of the Cold War. The former Soviet colonel, who escaped to Britain in 1985, says he was poisoned by a Russian assassin who visited him at his secret safe-house in Surrey.

He fears he is the latest victim of revenge attacks by Russian intelligence on high-profile defectors. Alexander Litvinenko, another former Russian spy, was murdered in London in 2006.

Gordievsky – awarded one of Britain's highest honours by the Queen last October – was rushed to hospital after collapsing at home. He lay unconscious and "close to death" for 34 hours. He spent a further two weeks recuperating in a private clinic paid for by his former bosses in MI6.

He was initially left partially paralysed by the alleged attack and still has no feeling in his fingers.

Last night Surrey Police confirmed they were investigating a possible attempt on Gordievsky's life. But he claimed that his former MI6 paymasters had attempted to cover it up. He said MI6 forced Special Branch to drop its initial investigation into the case.

Officers were ordered to reopen the inquiry only after pressure by senior intelligence figures, including former MI5 chief Eliza Manningham-Buller.

Lord Butler, the head of the inquiry into intelligence failures in the run-up to the war in Iraq, is also understood to have questioned why the case was not being taken more seriously.

Gordievsky, 69, defected to the UK after more than ten years living a double life spying for British intelligence. He told The Mail on Sunday that he was certain he was the victim of a Kremlin-inspired assassination attempt.

"I've known for some time that I am on the assassination list drawn up by rogue elements in Moscow," he said. "They murdered my friend Alexander Litvinenko. I have no doubt my sudden illness last November was a similar attempt on my life. ... It was obvious to me I had been poisoned... The targets for assassination are well known. First Boris Berezovsky [the multi-millionaire oligarch living in exile in Britain], next the prime minister of Chechnya, then Litvinenko and then I was fourth. Now I remain third."

• I THINK PUTIN'S GANG IS BEHIND THIS MURDER ATTEMPT - AS HE WAS ALSO BEHIND THE MURDER OF LITVINENKO.
  

• I THINK THE FACT THAT ANDREI LUGOVOI WENT BACK TO MOSCOW PROVES PUTIN ALSO HAD LITVINENKO MURDERED.

• (IF LUGOVOI WAS PART OF A BEREZOVSKY GANG, THEN HE WOULDN'T HAVE GONE BACK TO RUSSIA!)

PUTIN IS STILL IN CONTROL OF RUSSIA - AND WILL REMAIN SO FOR YEARS TO COME.

HE MUST BE WATCHED - CAREFULLY.

NOTE: Oleg Gordievsky [was] the highest ranking KGB officer ever to collaborate with British Intelligence...

On Saturday 26th February, Sir Martin Jacomb, Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters of the University on Mr Oleg Gordievsky, the highest ranking KGB officer ever to collaborate with British Intelligence, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to protecting the security and safety of the United Kingdom.

THAT'S WHY PUTIN TRIED TO WHACK HIM: TO SEND A MESSAGE...

*******UPDATE: Gordievsky saw it coming: KGB defector in Britain fears he will be next Alexander Litvinenko (2/10/08):

Oleg Gordievsky, 69, who was honoured by the Queen for services to British security last year, fears he could be murdered by Russians in this country, The Sunday Times writes today.

The former KGB officer who spied for Britain says he has become increasingly worried about his safety since the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian Federal Security Service officer, in London 15 months ago. Worsening relations between Britain and Russia have given him further concerns, the paper marks.