"FBI joins investigation of poisoned spy"

Thursday, November 30, 2006

FBI joins investigation of poisoned spy
By JENNIFER QUINN
The Associated Press 


LONDON - The FBI is joining the British probe into the poisoning death of a
Kremlin critic, the agency announced Thursday as investigators found traces
of radiation at a dozen sites in Britain and a former Russian prime minister
reported symptoms consistent with poisoning.

British authorities requested the involvement of the FBI, agency spokesman
Richard Kolko said. FBI experts in weapons of mass destruction will assist
with some of the scientific analysis, he said.

There is no suspected link to the U.S. in an investigation that extends to
five airliners and locations from London to Moscow. Russian officials said
radiation levels were normal on two suspect Russian jets and appealed to
British officials for information on how to test Russians who traveled
aboard the two British Airways planes on which radiation has so far been
detected.

Yegor Gaidar, who served briefly as prime minister in the 1990s under
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, vomited and then fainted during a
conference in Ireland on Nov. 24, a day after ex-KGB agent Alexander
Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning. Doctors treating Gaidar in Moscow
believe he was also poisoned, said his spokesman, Valery Natarov.

While Litvinenko was a fierce critic of the Kremlin who during his waning
hours blamed President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning, Gaidar, one of the
leaders of a liberal opposition party, is a figure with little influence in
today's Russia whose moderate criticism of the Kremlin has focused on
economic issues.

Gaidar's illness has added strands to a growing web of speculation in Russia
over the death of Litvinenko and the Oct. 7 killing of investigative
reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Some critics see the hand of hard-liners in the
country's ruling elite, while Kremlin backers have suggested a murder plot
by self-exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky to blacken the government's
reputation.

Andrei Lugovoy, another former KGB spy who met with Litvinenko on the day he
fell ill, served as Gaidar's bodyguard at one point. But there was no other
immediate link with Litvinenko, who was poisoned by a rare radioactive
element called polonium-210.

The former Russian prime minister's daughter, Maria, said Putin had called
her father on the phone to inquire about his health and wish him a smooth
recovery.

Gaidar, 50, was feeling better Thursday, according to Natarov. "His
condition is stable and improving. Doctors say there is no threat to his
life at the moment."

An autopsy on Litvinenko was to be conducted Friday. Since he became sick a
month ago, the story behind the former spy's poisoning has riveted the world
with twists and turns like that out of a James Bond film.

The planes were searched because Litvinenko said before he died that a group
of Russian contacts who met with him on Nov. 1, the day he later fell ill,
had traveled to London from Moscow.

Polonium is lethal when swallowed, with the power to destroy the human
body's DNA. But because it doesn't penetrate the skin, it is easy to
transport _ even across national borders.

Three British Airways jets _ two at London's Heathrow airport and one in
Moscow _ were grounded this week. So far, traces of radiation have been
found on the two BA aircraft in London. The Health Protection Agency said
passengers on one of the two planes, G-BZHA, had not been put at risk, but
officials were still monitoring the possible exposure of passengers on the
other, G-BNWX.

Two Russian aircraft were also being investigated. Russian Emergency
Situations Ministry spokeswoman Natalia Lukash said the ministry tested two
Transaero Boeing-737s on Thursday at the airline's request, and found that
radiation levels were within the norm. She did not say what routes the
planes had been traveling.

The reach of the investigation touched tens of thousands who had been
passengers on the three BA jets. Some 33,000 passengers and 3,000 crew and
airport personnel had contact with the 221 flights on the three British
planes.

About 5,500 passengers flooded hot lines to discuss possible symptoms
consistent with radiation poisoning, and a special page set up by British
Airways to disclose information had 60,000 hits.

It was unclear how the traces of radiation found their way on board, but
Home Secretary John Reid sought to reassure anxious airline passengers who
were wondering whether they were at risk.

"It's a very low risk indeed," Reid said.

A dozen sites _ including the planes _ in Britain have showed traces of
radioactivity, Reid said. Another dozen sites were investigated and some had
been cleared. Authorities have refused to say what type of radiation was
found.

So far, 24 people who may have been exposed to polonium-210 have been
referred to specialist clinics but the 29 urine tests conducted so far have
all been negative, the HPA said.

Reid insisted that all of the polonium-210 in Britain was accounted for _
and the question remains of how the rare radioactive element found its way
here.

A top Russian health official, Gennady Onishchenko, said the state consumer
protection agency he heads has appealed to British authorities for
information that would help it conduct unspecified measures _ presumably
tests _ among Russians who have traveled aboard the planes in which
radiation was detected, the Interfax news agency reported.

Onishchenko said that passengers returning from Britain would be monitored
at Moscow airports and that tests of its two major international airports,
Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo, revealed no radioactive contamination, Interfax
reported.

On the Net:

British Airways: http://www.ba.com

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