The death of a Georgian businessman who said his Government was trying to kill him is being treated as suspicious.

Badri Patarkatsishvili, who led and paid for an opposition campaign against Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, died at his Leatherhead home last night.

A spokesman for the 52-year-old tycoon said he died of a heart attack - although Surrey Police, who are investigating the death, have not confirmed that.

A Surrey Police spokesman said: "As with all unexpected deaths it is being treated as suspicious."

"A postmortem will be held later today to establish the cause of death."

In January Mr Patarkatsishvili ran against Saakashvili in a snap election - which opposition groups allege was rigged - and gained around seven per cent of the vote.

He had been seen in Georgia as a driving force behind anti-Government protests in November and left the country - spending time in Israel and Britain - while being investigated on charges of plotting to overthrow the Government.

The businessman was friends with Kia Joorabchian, a leading sports agent who represents Manchester United's Carlos Tevez, and tried to buy West Ham Football Club a couple of years ago.

In December Mr Patarkatsishvili had told Associated Press he had a recording of a Georgian interior ministry official asking a Chechen warlord to murder him.

Patarkatsishvili facts

  • Patarkatsishvili was born in Tbilisi on October 31, 1955.
  • He has close links with Boris Berezovsky a Russian tycoon and critic of Putin who now lives in London.
  • Partarkatsishvili co-owned television station Imedi with Murdoch's News Corporation.