A report in the British newspaper "The Telegraph" says the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted communications between the primary suspects in the murder case of former Russian spy Aleksandr Litvinenko, linking his poisoning to the Russian government.
"The Telegraph" reported on January 24, the NSA "obtained electronic communications between key individuals in London and Moscow from the time that the former spy was poisoned with radioactive material in central London."
The report says that evidence was handed over to British authorities but it would have been inadmissible in court.
Litvinenko's widow Marina has applied to the NSA to disclose the intercepts, saying they should be made available to former British judge Robert Owen, who is chairing a nine-week inquiry into the murder that starts on January 27 in London's High court.
Litvinenko, a former agent for Russia's FSB who switched sides and started working for Britain's MI6, was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London hotel in 2006.
Before he died Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of involvement in the poisoning.
