Breaking News Litvinenko inquest: Government makes secrecy request

News on Top Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in 2006 after meeting Russian contacts

A coroner is to hear an application by the government to keep some information secret at the forthcoming inquest into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

The former Russian security service officer was poisoned by radioactive polonium in London in 2006.
Tuesday's hearing will consider an application for a broad Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate.
It is expected to be opposed by lawyers for Mr Litvinenko's widow as well as media organisations.
The PII certificate would exclude some information from the inquest when it opens later this year.
They are usually issued on the grounds of national security.
At an earlier pre-inquest hearing the lawyer for Mr Litvinenko's widow said the Russian had been a paid agent of MI6 and argued the inquest should examine the secret service's relationship with him.
Sir Robert Owen, a judge acting as the coroner, has said he would examine what was known of threats to Mr Litvinenko's life and also whether the Russian state was responsible for his death.

The last pre-inquest hearing contained a major revelation - namely that Alexander Litvinenko had been a paid agent of MI6.
It raised the question over whether this work was linked to his death.
That has pushed Litvinenko's relationship with British intelligence much higher up the agenda.
But how much will we learn about that relationship?
That's the subject of Tuesday's hearing in which the government is applying for a broad Public Interest Immunity Certificate which would mean that information considered sensitive could be excluded.

He has also agreed that a group representing Russian state prosecutors can be accepted as a party to the inquest process.

A legal review, ahead of the inquest, has heard that Mr Litvinenko was working alongside Spanish spies for MI6 in the days before his death.
British government documents that implied Russia was behind the 43-year old's murder were also revealed.
Moscow has previously denied any involvement in Mr Litvinenko's death.
The inquest is due to begin on 1 May.

Mr Litvinenko died in November 2006 after ingesting the polonium-210 isotope, allegedly during a meeting at the Millennium Hotel in central London with ex-KGB contacts Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun.
Russia has refused to extradite main suspect Mr Lugovoi to the UK for questioning.
Neil Garnham, representing the Home Office, told the review he could "neither confirm nor deny" whether Mr Litvinenko was employed by British intelligence.
The Kremlin has indicated it would like to become an interested party in the inquest, which would allow representatives of the Russian state to cross-examine witnesses and examine evidence.