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Doctors treat man who dined with poisoned ex-spy

Doctors were yesterday carrying out further tests on an Italian security expert and friend of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko who tested positive for traces of the same radioactive substance found in the former intelligence agent.

Mario Scaramella was hospitalized on Friday after tests confirmed he had been exposed to polonium-210, the rare substance found in Litvinenko's body before he died in London on Nov. 23.

Doctors said Scaramella had been exposed to a much lower level of the radioactive material.

He was "well" and preliminary tests had shown "no evidence of radiation toxicity," a spokesman for University College Hospital said.

Scaramella met with Litvinenko at the Itsu sushi restaurant in central London on Nov. 1, the day the former KGB agent believed he was poisoned.

Also yesterday, British Airways announced that all three of its jetliners that had been grounded by investigators looking into Litvinenko's death for had been cleared to resume service. Small traces of radioactive substances had been found on the planes.

"They have all been cleared and they will be back in service in the next few days," said a BA spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

The Health Protection Agency, which deals with public health issues in Britain, said though very low levels of polonium-210 were found on two of the planes, there was no risk to passengers.

Another airline, easyJet, said Scaramella had flown with them to London from Naples on Oct. 31 and returned on Nov. 3, two days after his meeting with 43-year-old Litvinenko. They did not say if any of their planes would be tested for radioactivity.

Litvinenko's wife Marina, 44, was also confirmed as having shown traces of polonium, but she was showing no ill effects and did not need hospital treatment, the ex-spy's friend, Alex Goldfarb, said yesterday.

Meanwhile one of Litvinenko's contacts said that the former spy may have been contaminated with radiation two weeks earlier than previously thought, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported yesterday.

Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoi told the newspaper he feared he may have been contaminated by Litvinenko two weeks before their meeting in a London hotel on Nov. 1.

In an attempt to explain why a British Airways aircraft he boarded on Oct. 25 has reportedly revealed traces of radiation, Lugovoi told the newspaper he may have been contaminated by Litvinenko when the pair met a week earlier on Oct. 17.

This chain of events would explain the traces of radiation that British police believe were left on an Oct. 25 British Airways flight from Moscow to London, which Lugovoi admits to having taken, the newspaper said.

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Background of poisoned Italian contact questioned

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