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| Version 8 | Version 9 |
|---|---|
| Dead spy's contact doing 'well' | Dead spy's contact doing 'well' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A contact of Alexander Litvinenko who tested positive for the same substance found in the Russian's body has shown no evidence of "radiation toxicity". | A contact of Alexander Litvinenko who tested positive for the same substance found in the Russian's body has shown no evidence of "radiation toxicity". |
| Mario Scaramella is "well" and preliminary tests have shown he is not showing signs of illness, University College Hospital said. | Mario Scaramella is "well" and preliminary tests have shown he is not showing signs of illness, University College Hospital said. |
| The Italian was one of the last people to have met ex-spy Mr Litvinenko before his death. | The Italian was one of the last people to have met ex-spy Mr Litvinenko before his death. |
| Officials had previously said he tested positive for traces of polonium-210. | Officials had previously said he tested positive for traces of polonium-210. |
| Mr Scaramella's condition is said to have remained the same as it had been on Friday. | Mr Scaramella's condition is said to have remained the same as it had been on Friday. |
| Mr Litvinenko's wife Marina is also said to have been "very slightly contaminated" but is not ill. | Mr Litvinenko's wife Marina is also said to have been "very slightly contaminated" but is not ill. |
| Health officials stressed the public were in no way at risk, despite two people connected with Mr Litvinenko testing positive for radiation exposure. | Health officials stressed the public were in no way at risk, despite two people connected with Mr Litvinenko testing positive for radiation exposure. |
| 'No concerns' | 'No concerns' |
| Easyjet has confirmed that Mr Scaramella flew on flight 3506 from Naples to Stansted on 31 October and also on flight 3505 from Stansted to Naples on 3 November. | Easyjet has confirmed that Mr Scaramella flew on flight 3506 from Naples to Stansted on 31 October and also on flight 3505 from Stansted to Naples on 3 November. |
| The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said it had no "public health concerns" about those flights. | The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said it had no "public health concerns" about those flights. |
| The Scaramella file resembles a story from a spy novel BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner Scaramella in spotlight | |
| It also said all three British Airways planes at the centre of the polonium-210 scare have been given the all-clear and are able to return to service. | It also said all three British Airways planes at the centre of the polonium-210 scare have been given the all-clear and are able to return to service. |
| The airline has been trying to contact 33,000 passengers from 221 flights after traces of the radioactive material were found on two if its planes. | The airline has been trying to contact 33,000 passengers from 221 flights after traces of the radioactive material were found on two if its planes. |
| On Saturday the Russian transport ministry's press service said traces of radiation have been found on a Finnish plane in Moscow that had flown from Berlin via Helsinki. | On Saturday the Russian transport ministry's press service said traces of radiation have been found on a Finnish plane in Moscow that had flown from Berlin via Helsinki. |
| Low risk | Low risk |
| HPA chief executive Pat Troop said: "People should be reassured that we're not allowing anything to be open if we are not content about it." | HPA chief executive Pat Troop said: "People should be reassured that we're not allowing anything to be open if we are not content about it." |
| The agency said the levels of polonium-210 discovered in Mrs Litvinenko were "not significant enough to result in any illness in the short term and any increased risk in the long term was likely to be very small". | The agency said the levels of polonium-210 discovered in Mrs Litvinenko were "not significant enough to result in any illness in the short term and any increased risk in the long term was likely to be very small". |
| Mr Litvinenko's wife, Marina, was slightly contaminated | Mr Litvinenko's wife, Marina, was slightly contaminated |
| Professor Anthony Glees, from the Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies at Brunel University, told BBC Five Live that MI5 were taking what had happened very seriously. | Professor Anthony Glees, from the Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies at Brunel University, told BBC Five Live that MI5 were taking what had happened very seriously. |
| He said "the fact that you could get it onto planes despite all the security measures that we all go through every time we fly, is causing very serious disquiet". | He said "the fact that you could get it onto planes despite all the security measures that we all go through every time we fly, is causing very serious disquiet". |
| Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that experts from the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria are involved in the investigation into the Litvinenko poisoning. | Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that experts from the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria are involved in the investigation into the Litvinenko poisoning. |
| Several staff members have been sent to London at the request of the HPA, and more are set to go on Monday, a spokeswoman for the British Nuclear Group said. | Several staff members have been sent to London at the request of the HPA, and more are set to go on Monday, a spokeswoman for the British Nuclear Group said. |
| Mr Scaramella met Mr Litvinenko, who had been a critic of the Russian government since defecting to the UK, at a sushi restaurant in central London on 1 November. | Mr Scaramella met Mr Litvinenko, who had been a critic of the Russian government since defecting to the UK, at a sushi restaurant in central London on 1 November. |
| Moscow denial | Moscow denial |
| It was later that day that Mr Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, fell ill. | It was later that day that Mr Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, fell ill. |
| Russian defence minister Sergey Ivanov said Moscow was ready to help investigate his death and that there was no evidence to implicate the Russian secret service, the FSB (formerly the KGB). | Russian defence minister Sergey Ivanov said Moscow was ready to help investigate his death and that there was no evidence to implicate the Russian secret service, the FSB (formerly the KGB). |
| EXPOSURE RISK Contact with carrier's sweat or urine could lead to exposureBut polonium-210 must be ingested to cause damageRadiation has very short range and cannot pass through skinWashing eliminates traces | |
| He said he did not see "any grounds for speculation which is currently being actively spread in the Western mass media alleging that this is the long arm of the KGB and FSB and that Litvinenko knew too much because he was a prominent intelligence officer, which is completely untrue. | He said he did not see "any grounds for speculation which is currently being actively spread in the Western mass media alleging that this is the long arm of the KGB and FSB and that Litvinenko knew too much because he was a prominent intelligence officer, which is completely untrue. |
| "Naturally, a most thorough and unbiased investigation is needed, and I am confident that it will be carried out. Russia is ready to offer any kind of help in this connection." | "Naturally, a most thorough and unbiased investigation is needed, and I am confident that it will be carried out. Russia is ready to offer any kind of help in this connection." |
| Dr Keith Patterson, of University College Hospital, said on Friday that the level of polonium-210 found in Mr Scaramella's body was of a "considerably lower level" than that found in Mr Litvinenko's body. | Dr Keith Patterson, of University College Hospital, said on Friday that the level of polonium-210 found in Mr Scaramella's body was of a "considerably lower level" than that found in Mr Litvinenko's body. |
| Meanwhile, the Ashdown Park Hotel, near East Grinstead, Sussex, has been given the all-clear after it was closed by officers probing the ex-spy's death. | Meanwhile, the Ashdown Park Hotel, near East Grinstead, Sussex, has been given the all-clear after it was closed by officers probing the ex-spy's death. |
| Protective clothing | Protective clothing |
| A post-mortem examination on Mr Litvinenko, who died on 23 November, was completed on Friday. | A post-mortem examination on Mr Litvinenko, who died on 23 November, was completed on Friday. |
| Those present at the examination at the Royal London Hospital, in east London, wore protective clothing to avoid contamination by traces of the polonium-210 isotope. | Those present at the examination at the Royal London Hospital, in east London, wore protective clothing to avoid contamination by traces of the polonium-210 isotope. |
| Mr Scaramella is involved in an Italian parliamentary inquiry into KGB activity and had been sufficiently worried by the contents of an e-mail to ask for advice from Mr Litvinenko. | Mr Scaramella is involved in an Italian parliamentary inquiry into KGB activity and had been sufficiently worried by the contents of an e-mail to ask for advice from Mr Litvinenko. |
| Friends of Mr Litvinenko believe he was poisoned because of his criticisms of the Putin government. | Friends of Mr Litvinenko believe he was poisoned because of his criticisms of the Putin government. |