Former officer of Federal Security Service and political emigrant Alexander Litvinenko
Photo: Vasily Dyachkov
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Litvinenko Didn’t Digest Information
Former officer of Federal Security Service and political emigrant Alexander Litvinenko was admitted to hospital Saturday with signs of toxin poisoning. Litvinenko said he was poisoned when meeting one of informers, who delivered documents about murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Alexander Litvinenko needed the hospital treatment once he dined with his acquaintance, Mario Scaramella of Italy, in one of the restaurants downtown London.
“He sent me an e-mail from Italy late October asking to meet and wrote that he will be in London November 10 to 11,” Litvinenko said. “But suddenly, he called me November 1 and, as usual, we decided to meet on Piccadilly Circus. We met at around 3:00 p.m., and I invited him to dine in the restaurant.”
From Scaramella, Litvinenko received a four-page document printed in English. The Italian was nervous claiming the document mentions names of the people involved in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, Litvinenko went on.
Indeed, the document spelled out names of some officers of Federal Security Service, said Litvinenko, former colonel of this Service, adding he asked for the time to study the information.
“I ordered the food, and he took just water and was hurrying me. From the text, I understood that the mentioned people could have really arranged the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. We parted nearly at once,” Litvinenko continued. “As soon as I got home, I put the papers and was down.”
Litvinenko is in a London hospital now and the doctors are still unable to determine the toxins. But they don’t doubt it was poisoning. Litvinenko said that his heart endured because he was actively going in for sport and that he survived thanks to cleaning out the stomach as soon as he spotted the poisoning signs.
According to Litvinenko, the London police opened the case and he would be interrogated in detail once he left the hospital. As to the documents, Litvinenko promised to pass them to the police and Novaya Gazeta reporters, who are holding independent investigation of Politkovskaya murder.
Probably for lack of details, representatives of Scotland Yard proved unable to find any record about the crime related to Litvinenko yesterday.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 13, 2006
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