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Spy contact fails to meet police Radiation 'trace' at Hamburg flat
(about 4 hours later)
An associate of Alexander Litvinenko has failed to meet UK investigators, as the flat of another contact of the dead former spy is searched in Germany. Police in Germany say they have found indications of radiation in a Hamburg apartment apparently used by a contact of murdered Alexander Litvinenko.
Former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi should this week have met British officers investigating the murder of Mr Litvinenko, who died last month. Dmitry Kovtun, who met the former KGB agent on the day he fell ill, is being treated in hospital in Russia, reportedly for radiation poisoning.
Mr Lugovoi and his business associate Dmitry Kovtun are both currently undergoing medical checks in Russia. Police said they had not found any source of radiation in the apartment block, which has been sealed off.
Both men met Mr Litvinenko in London on November 1 - the day he fell ill. However the traces could be a sign that a source had been there, they said.
The British murder inquiry is being run parallel to an investigation in Russia. Police in Hamburg had stated their intention to examine Mr Kovtun's apartment in the city for traces of polonium-210, the radioactive substance found in murdered Mr Litvinenko's body.
Moscow has said it will not extradite any suspects in the case to the UK. Hotel meeting
The body of Mr Litvinenko, who died in a London hospital on 23 November after apparently being poisoned by the radioactive substance polonum-210, was buried at Highgate Cemetery, in north London, on Thursday. It followed reports that Mr Kovtun had flown from Hamburg to London, where he met Mr Litvinenko last month.
The 43-year-old, a vocal critic of the Kremlin, had issued a statement on his deathbed accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his poisoning, but this has been dismissed by the Kremlin. "There are indications that there has been a source of radiation there, but no source of radiation has been found," said Ulrike Sweden, a spokeswoman for Hamburg police.
The 1 November meeting at the Millennium Hotel between Mr Litvinenko, Mr Lugovoi, Mr Kovtun and a fourth man, Vyacheslav Sokolenko, has become the main focus of the police inquiry. The apartment block, in the Ottensen district of the northern port city, is the latest in a series of buildings - most of them in London - to have been searched as part of inquiries into Mr Litvinenko's death.
Medical confusion Mr Litvinenko was buried in London on Thursday
There have been conflicting reports as to the state of health of both Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun, both of whom have needed hospital treatment. The British murder inquiry is being run parallel to an investigation in Russia, but Moscow has said it will not extradite any suspects in the case to the UK.
Mr Lugovoi's lawyer said his condition should not have prevented him from being questioned and added he was not aware of the further delay in questioning. The 43-year-old, who had been a vocal critic of the Kremlin, issued a statement on his deathbed accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his poisoning, but this has been dismissed by the Kremlin.
Andrei Lugovoi has failed to meet investigators for questioning Mr Litvinenko died in a London hospital on 23 November after apparently being poisoned by polonium-210.
He had fallen ill on 1 November after a series of meetings in London.
One of them, at the city's Millennium Hotel, involved Mr Litvinenko, former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi, Mr Lugovoi's business associate Mr Kovtun and a fourth man, Vyacheslav Sokolenko.
Their meeting has become the main focus of the police inquiry.
Mr Lugovoi was this week due to have met British officers investigating Mr Litvinenko's death, but that did not happen.
Medical checks
He and Mr Kovtun are both currently undergoing medical checks in Russia, but there have been conflicting reports about their health.
Mr Lugovoi's lawyer said his client's condition should not have prevented him from being questioned.
Mr Kovtun has been reported as being in a coma and also suffering from radiation damage to his intestines and kidneys, but this has been denied by Mr Lugovoi's lawyer, Andrei Romashov.Mr Kovtun has been reported as being in a coma and also suffering from radiation damage to his intestines and kidneys, but this has been denied by Mr Lugovoi's lawyer, Andrei Romashov.
Police in Hamburg have stated their intention to examine Mr Kovtun's apartment in the city for traces of polonium-210, following reports that he had flown from Hamburg to London. Meanwhile, it has emerged that seven bar staff who were working at the Millennium Hotel's Pine Bar on 1 November have tested positive for low levels of polonium-210.
Meanwhile, it has also emerged that seven bar staff working at the Millennium Hotel's Pine Bar on 1 November have tested positive for low levels of radioactive poison polonium-210. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said they faced "no health risk in the short term", but the concern was that they may be at a very small increased risk of cancer in the long term.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there was "no health risk in the short term", but the concern was that they may be at a very small increased risk of cancer in the long term.
It stressed the risk to the general public was likely to be "very low".It stressed the risk to the general public was likely to be "very low".
The HPA has asked anyone who was at the Pine Bar between 31 October and 2 November to contact NHS Direct.The HPA has asked anyone who was at the Pine Bar between 31 October and 2 November to contact NHS Direct.
And more than 200 people known to have been at the bar on 1 November are definitely to be offered tests. More than 200 people known to have been at the bar on 1 November are definitely to be offered tests.