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Berezovsky did not apply for political asylum in Israel – source

On Sunday, former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi said on TV that in October-November Berezovsky had applied to the Israeli government with a request to grant him political asylum
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, March 25 (Itar-Tass) – Israel’s competent agencies did not receive any official requests for political asylum from Russia’s self-exiled business tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a source from the Israeli Foreign Ministry told Tass on Monday.

“Berezovsky did not apply for political asylum,” he stressed. On Sunday, former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi said in the “Sunday night with Vladimir Solovyov” TV program that as far as he knew, in October-November Berezovsky had applied to the Israeli government with a request to grant him political asylum, “although he could move there unimpeded and nobody would have extradited him”. “But he sought that the legal status be fixed,” Lugovoi added.

He confirmed that he had spoken to a man who had communicated with Berezovsky shortly before business tycoon’s death at his home in the United Kingdom. “This person also tends to believe that Berezovsky committed suicide,” the deputy said. He marked that in all probability Berezovsky did not believe any longer that Great Britain would extend political asylum to him.