Litvinenko's revenge from beyond the grave: Spy's voice recording made before he was murdered reveals he was working on links between Putin and terrorist 

• Claims Putin was friends with one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives
• Ukranian crime boss Semion Mogilivech is linked to a string of crimes 
• Include selling nuclear material, prostitution rings and contract killings
• Litvinenko claims Mogilivech also sold weapons to Al Qaeda
• Public inquiry into former KGB agents murder to start next week

Alexander Litvinenko - the former KGB spy who died after drinking poisoned tea in a London hotel - has linked Russian president Vladamir Putin to one of the world's most wanted criminals from beyond the grave.

Mr Litvinenko, a vocal Kremlin critic, claims on a tape made a year before his death in 2006 that Putin and Ukranian crime boss Semion Mogilevich had a 'good relationship'.

Mogilevich has been linked to a string of offences, said to run from prostitution rings to contract murders and trading in nuclear material.

In the tape, Mr Litvinenko adds another charge to the sheet: he claims Mogilevich - who he was investigating - was selling arms to Al Qaeda. 

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Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-KGB agent poisoned in London in 2006, has claimed Russian President Vladamir Putin and Ukranian crime boss Semion Mogilevich had a 'good relationship'

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Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the links between the Russian mafia and Italian politicians

The recording, made in November 2005 and uncovered by The Telegraph, Mr Litvinenko can be heard saying: In the past, I have given a lot of information about Semion Mogilevich to Mario Scarmella. 'Now Semion Mogilevich is on the FBI's most wanted list. 

'And Mogilevich has a good relationship with Russian President Valdimir Putin since 1994 or 1993. 

'And Mogilevich has contact with Al Qaeda. 

'And Simon Mogilevich sells weapons to Al Qaeda.'

In the tape, Mr Litvinenko also claims he gave Mr Scarmella - a consultant for the Mitrokhin Commission, which was investigating links between the Russian mafia and Italian politicians - information about a former KGB officer who has links with Al Qaeda.

He says the agent also had links to Russia’s foreign intelligence and state security services, and had used them to influence Chechen rebels.

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He claims Mogilevich (pictured) had sold weapons to terrorist group Al Qaeda

Mr Litvinenko goes on to claim he was blackmailed after handing over the intelligence.

In the recording, Mr Litvinenko alleges the Russian special services asked for his brother to be arrested and extradited back home, following arrests made using information he had given to Mr Scarmella.

Mr Litvinenko, who was 43, died three weeks after drinking tea poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope in November 2006.

The family have said they believe the Russian government was involved in his murder. 

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Mr Litvinenko died three weeks after being poisoned by polonium-210, which was put in his tea, a year after the recording was made

British police suspect ex-KGB agents Andrei Lugovoy, who has denied any involvement, and Dmitry Kovtun slipped polonium-210 into Litvinenko's tea when they met him at the Millennium Hotel in central London.

Russia has always denied any involvement in the death of Mr Litvinenko. who had worked for MI6 for several years, as well as by the Spanish security services to help investigate Russian mafia activities.  

A public inquiry into his death finally begins in the British capital next week, and the judge who will oversee the inquiry has already cited a 'prima facie case' indicating Russian involvement.