British police have confirmed they arrested a man suspected of plotting to kill Boris Berezovsky, the self-exiled Russian billionaire. London's Metropolitan police say the man was arrested on June 21 and released two days later without charge. He was then

Boris Berezovsky says the man was deported to Russia, but that has not been confirmed by any officials.

The police statement came hours after Mr Berezovsky said he had fled the country for about a week in mid-June after police warned him his life was in danger.

Dmitry Suslov, the Deputy Director of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, says Mr Berezovsky is making the claims to draw attention to himself.

“It is very beneficial for Mr Berezovsky to claim about that. I think it is an attempt to win some political scale on a false situation. It is beneficial for him, because thus he proves or he tries to prove for his sponsors and for the certain people in western countries that … he is still a political figure, that he is still an influential factor in Russia-West relations, in Russian politics and in western politics. And as a politician he wants to prove that he is still an influential man,” Mr Suslov said.

Berezovsky is on trial in absentia in Russia, on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion. He is also wanted in Brazil for alleged money laundering.