'Poisoned' spy still being treated

Former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko remains seriously ill in intensive care in London today after a suspected …

Former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko remains seriously ill in intensive care in London today after a suspected poisoning.

Mr Litvinenko's condition is "unchanged from yesterday", according to University College Hospital in London where he is being treated.

Alexander Litvinenko, his condition remains unchanged
Alexander Litvinenko, his condition remains unchanged

Doctors last night said his illness was unlikely to have been caused by thallium sulphate poisoning, but said they could not rule out radioactive material, including radioactive thallium.

Italian academic Mario Scaramella has claimed that Mr Litvinenko saw documents naming him as a target shortly before he was poisoned.

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Mr Scaramella said documents he received included "alarming" facts that left both men fearing for their lives.

The former consultant on the Italian government's Mitrokhin Commission, which investigated the KGB's activities in Italy, told Channel 4 News: "We discussed some papers I received with alarming facts, issues. And we discussed such papers together."

He suggested that Mr Litvinenko could have been targeted for his own work for the commission. "The information was very specific on names, circumstances, places and facts, but not confirmed. And in general we can take every day that he, me, or people working in this matter are at risk."

Mr Litvinenko, a defector to Britain who has been granted asylum and citizenship, is thought to have been poisoned three weeks ago, on November 1st, in London. He had been investigating the murder of dissident Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Friends claim Mr Litvinenko was poisoned because of his fierce criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime. However, Kremlin officials have dismissed all accusations of its involvement in the alleged poisoning as "sheer nonsense".

PA