Hain Attacks Kremlin

Reuters reports that Britain’s Northern Ireland Minister, Peter Hain, has attacked the Kremlin and President Putin in the aftermath of Alexander Litvinenko’s murder:

“The promise that President Putin brought to Russia when he came to power has been clouded by what has happened since, including some extremely murky murders,” he told BBC television.

“His success in binding a disintegrating nation together … must be balanced against the fact that there have been huge attacks on individual liberty and on democracy and it’s important that he retakes the democratic view,” he added.

Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells has hinted that the Litvinenko poisoning may have serious diplomatic consequences for relations between Britain and Russia, while Hain also characterized the present state of relations between the two countries as “very difficult”.