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| Mystery London death of Putin's billionaire enemy | |
| 2008-02-14 | |
| Maybe yes, maybe no. We'll see. A Georgian billionaire who had spoken of his fears of assassination died of natural causes, according to the initial results of a post-mortem examination. Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, collapsed at his country mansion outside Leatherhead, Surrey, on Tuesday night. His family reported that he suffered a heart attack. A Surrey Police spokeswoman said the interim results of a post-mortem examination carried out on Wednesday night showed he died of natural causes. An inquest will open on Friday. The spokeswoman said: "Following initial inquiries and the post-mortem carried out last night, Surrey Police can confirm that at this stage there is no indication that the sudden death of Badri Patarkatsishvili was from anything other than natural causes. "Of course, natural causes for enemies of Vlad include lots of stuff that ain't natural."
Mr Patarkatsishvili had voiced concerns for his safety, believing his life was at risk. His sudden death raised fears of another "Alexander Litvinenko-style" murder. However, officers had already said that there is no suggestion any radioactive substances were involved. Sky News home affairs correspondent Mark White said: "The police want to leave no stone uncovered. "In the light of Litvinenko's death in 2006 they are treating it very seriously and want to investigate properly to rule out foul play or to find out whether he was the subject of a hit." Mr Patarkatsishvili - Georgia's richest man, with an estimated £6bn fortune - spoke recently of his fears after one alleged plot against him was uncovered in London. Mr Patarkatsishvili amassed his wealth during the privatisation of state industries in Russia during the 1990s. He helped to finance the Rose Revolution that swept President Mikhail Saakashvili to power in Georgia in 2003, but subsequently fell out with him. He backed mass street protests against the government in Tbilisi last November. In December he told the Sunday Times he did not feel safe returning to his home country. The paper published extracts of a tape recording of a conversation said to have taken place between an official from the Georgian interior ministry and a possible hitman. The two men allegedly discussed two options for making Mr Patarkatsishvili "disappear completely". | |
| Posted by:gorb |