VARIOUS: Alexander Litvinenko's Italian contact Mario Scaramella under UK protection/ British PM Tony Blair promises "no diplomatic or political barrier" would be allowed to hamper an investigation into former Russian spy's death

Record ID: 477776

  • Title: VARIOUS: Alexander Litvinenko's Italian contact Mario Scaramella under UK protection/ British PM Tony Blair promises "no diplomatic or political barrier" would be allowed to hamper an investigation into former Russian spy's death
  • Date: 29th November 2006
  • Summary: (W4) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (NOVEMBER 28, 2006) (REUTERS) ROSATOM CHIEF SERGEI KIRIYENKO ARRIVING TO GIVE PRESS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS ATTENDING PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ROSATOM CHIEF SERGEI KIRIYENKO SAYING: "Eight grammes of Polonium 210 is a lot. It is a big volume. We used to export it to Great Britain. But I think we stopped supplying them in 2001 or 2002. Until
  • Embargoed: 14th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA2UDL93NUEICN1K4LD5DOI75A1
  • Story Text: British Prime Minister Tony Blair promised on Tuesday (November 28) that "no diplomatic or political barrier" would be allowed to hamper an investigation into the death of a former Russian spy killed by radiation poisoning.
    Blair said the case was "very serious" and he would discuss it with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person if necessary.
    "First of all, I haven't spoken to President Putin but I will do so at any time that is appropriate. The police investigation will proceed and I think people should know that there is no diplomatic or political barrier in the way of that investigation going wherever it needs to go," Blair told a news conference in Copenhagen after talks with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
    Significant amounts of radioactive Polonium 210 were found in the body of Alexander Litvinenko, a former agent who became a fierce Kremlin critic and accused Putin of ordering his slow, agonising death. Police are investigating his death as suspicious.
    The Kremlin denies any involvement but the Litvinenko case has fuelled tensions between London and Moscow.
    In Moscow, the head of Russia's nuclear agency told reporters he doubted radioactive Polonium 210 used to kill the former KGB spy.
    Russia's Atomic Energy Agency Chief Sergei Kiriyenko said Polonium 210, was very tightly controlled inside Russia and that just eight grams per month were exported from Russia.
    "Eight grammes of Polonium 210 is a lot. It is a big volume. We used to export it to Great Britain. But I think we stopped supplying them in 2001 or 2002. Until now we are still exporting eight grammes to American companies. Each time the companies have to give us a license that guarantees not to sell it to third parties and that it will be used only in civilian production," Rosatom chief, Sergei Kiriyenko, told the news conference.
    "The control on the production is very strict. I can not believe that someone would be able to steal something from the production site. It is only eight grammes, that is a lot for the isotope, but it is an amount that is easy to control. Besides, it is a very dangerous substance that is transported in specially secured containers. Just skin contact is enough for it to go through the pores and settle in the lungs and bones, which will lead to death," Kiriyenko said.
    An Italian academic who met Litvinenko in London the day he became ill is under British police protection in London and is undergoing medical tests, a Rome-based legal source said.
    Mario Scaramella, who has advised an Italian parliamentary commission on Soviet-era espionage, is being checked to find out if he too has been contaminated, the source said.
    Litvinenko died on Thursday (November 23), only weeks after being given British citizenship.
    In Rome, an Italian senator confirmed the reports, saying that Scaramella told him by telephone on Tuesday that he was in London, under the police protection.
    "Mario Scaramella is now in England, actually in London, he told me he was very happy, kind of amazed, because he said 'I'm in a castle, treated as a prince', said Senator Paolo Guzzanti.
    "He also received medical tests for this Polonium poison, plus he's considered as a collaborator of the British justice, he received an escort, bodyguards," Senator Guzzanti added.
    Radiation was found at the sushi restaurant where Litvinenko met Scaramella on November 1 and traces of radiation have also been detected at several more sites in London, including Litvinenko's home, a hotel he visited, the offices of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and the offices of Erinys, a security and risk management company.
    Three people have been sent for radiological assessment, but a spokeswoman for Britain's Health Protection Agency would not say on Tuesday whether Scaramella was being tested.
    Frenzied speculation has surfaced in both British and Russian media about a possible motive for killing Litvinenko, some linking it to his reported investigations into Russian oil company Yukos and into last month's murder of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
    Scaramella has said he showed Litvinenko e-mails from a shared source warning them their lives might be danger from St. Petersburg-based criminals. The e-mails said the same criminals, possibly acting for Moscow, had killed Politkovskaya.
    Litvinenko had been investigating Politkovskaya's death. He had also published a book accusing Russian security services of carrying out Moscow apartment bombings in 1999 that were blamed on Chechen rebels and used by Putin as justification for war against the separatists.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register