Increasing numbers of people are being tested for possible exposure to radiation in the investigation into the death of a former Russian spy as the postmortem on his body was due to be carried out yesterday.
It was also reported that British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and 2012 Olympics organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe traveled to Barcelona on one of the British Airways (BA) aircraft that were found to have traces of radioactive material.
Meanwhile, stricken former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar's spokesman said he was the victim of an "unnatural" poisoning, fueling fears his case may be linked to that of former spy Alexander Litvinenko and journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was murdered in October.
Police in Ireland, where Gaidar fell ill, have started an inquiry into what caused his illness. Gaidar is currently at a hospital in Moscow.
Polonium-210
In Britain, a specialist postmortem was due to be carried out on yesterday, after Litvinenko's urine was found to have large quantities of the radioactive substance polonium-210.
As of midnight on Wednesday, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that about 1,700 people called the government-run health service's hotline saying they were at the locations Litvinenko is said to have visited on the day he fell ill, and of those, it has followed up on 139 cases.
A total of 24, as of Thursday afternoon, had been referred to specialists for an exposure assessment. Some 140 people have been asked to give urine samples.
The investigation is gradually homing in on a string of London locations -- including two hospitals, a sushi bar and a hotel -- and three BA planes used on London-Moscow flights, on two of which traces of radiation have been found.
The HPA late on Thursday gave the all-clear for one of the planes.
`Rogue elements'
British police and intelligence services increasingly suspect "rogue elements" within the Russian state are behind Litvinenko's death on Nov. 23, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported yesterday, and they have apparently ruled out official government involvement.
Citing sources within the police and intelligence services, the newspaper said that investigators were tracking down a group of five or more men who arrived in London shortly before Litvinenko fell ill on Nov. 1, and watched a soccer match between London club Arsenal and CSKA Moscow the same day.
The group, described thus far only as witnesses, flew back to Moscow shortly afterward.
Police also believe that Litvinenko was poisoned at or near the sushi bar, Britain's Independent newspaper reported yesterday.
Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported yesterday, meanwhile, that Litvinenko's would-be assassins dropped the polonium-210 on the floor of a London hotel room, citing a senior government source.
The newspaper also said that British scientists are believed to have identified the plant where the substance was produced.
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