Soviet leader considered assassinating his predecessor

A former head of the Soviet secret police, the KGB, has said that the former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev considered ordering the assassination of his predecessor Nikita Kruschchev in 1964, while he was still in office.

The claim was made by Vladimir Semichastny in a Russian television interview.

He said the KGB refused to even discuss the matter, telling Mr Brezhnev to use political means to effect any change in the leadership.

Mr Kruschchev was eventually forced to step down the same year and was replaced by a triumvirate which held power until 1966, when Mr Brezhnev took over the sole leadership.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service