Poison spy probe moves to Moscow

12 April 2012

Detectives investigating the death of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko are planning to fly to Moscow in their hunt for clues into the dissident's poisoning, sources confirmed.

It has also emerged that anti-terror police from Scotland Yard have already taken the investigation to the USA where they are thought to have interviewed a key figure behind the Ukrainian "Orange Revolution" of 2004.

Mr Litvinenko, a fierce critic of president Vladimir Putin, died of radiation poisoning last month, convinced that he had been the victim of a Russian murder plot.

A second man has tested positive for the deadly radioactive substance polonium 210 which is believed to have killed Mr Litvinenko.

Doctors treating Italian academic Mario Scaramella said that he continued to show no symptoms of poisoning.

But London's University College Hospital said that further tests were being carried out on Mr Scaramella, who met Mr Litvinenko at the Itsu sushi bar in Piccadilly on November 1, the day he fell ill.

With the spy's death set to be raised with European interior ministers in Brussels, Home Secretary John Reid said that the investigation was likely to "widen out" beyond Britain.

"The police will follow wherever this investigation leads inside or outside of Britain. That will continue over the next few days," he told Sky News. "The police will talk to anybody they need to inside this country or outside this country."

Police sources confirmed that a team of detectives would be going to Moscow within days, although the situation was described as "too fluid" to say for certain when the officers would be flying out.

Among those they may want to interview is former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi - whose visit to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on the day he met Mr Litvinenko is thought to be behind a radiation search at the football ground.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT