Spy investigators find radiation at tycoon's office

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LONDON, England -- Police investigating the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko have sealed off the offices of exiled billionaire Boris Berezovsky following the discovery there of traces of a deadly radioactive substance.

Police also cordoned off the headquarters of an international security company visited by Litvinenko after finding traces of polonium-210.

Scotland Yard said traces of the substance were found at 7 Down Street and 25 Grosvenor Street, both in London's upmarket Mayfair district, as they continued to probe the death of Litvinenko from radiation poisoning on Thursday evening.

A "significant quantity" of polonium-210 was found in Litvinenko's urine following extensive tests by forensic toxicologists.

The new finds come after traces of the substance were also detected at the Itsu sushi restaurant in Piccadilly, the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square -- both visited by Litvinenko -- as well as his home in Muswell Hill, north London.

Scotland Yard detectives were also preparing to interview an Italian academic who met Litvinenko, 43, on the day he was allegedly poisoned, the UK's Press Association reported.

Mario Scaramella, who met Litvinenko at the Itsu sushi restaurant on November 1, left London after the meeting and returned to Italy. However, the environmental professor has since returned to the UK.

He is in touch with Scotland Yard officers and is believed to be residing in a secure location somewhere in the vicinity of London, PA said. Scaramella will be interviewed as a potential witness by detectives in the coming days.

Prime Minister Tony Blair declared Tuesday that no "diplomatic or political barrier" would be allowed to stand in the way of the investigation.

Blair was speaking following a joint news conference with Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Copenhagen during a stop-off on his way to the NATO summit in the Latvian capital of Riga.

Blair said he had not yet spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is also expected in Riga although not until Blair has left and the summit is over. He said that he would do so when the time was "appropriate".

He added: "There is no diplomatic or political barrier in the way of that investigation going where it needs to go."

Officials had already offered tests to members of the public who may have visited the locations. A spokeswoman for Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that of more than 450 people who called a government hotline for health advice, 18 had been passed on to the HPA for follow-up.

"Of those 18, three have been referred as a precaution to a special clinic for radiological assessment," she said.

An inquest into Litvinenko's death is due to begin Thursday, said Camden Council, which oversees the North London Coroner's Court -- the body that orders such inquests.

The Camden Council coroner said Tuesday that, as expected, "an autopsy and special examinations are necessary to further investigate the cause and circumstances" of Litvinenko's death..

The coroner said in a statement, "These examinations will take place on Friday once sufficient health and safety preparation has taken place to ensure the safety of the doctors and technicians who will carry out the work."

Speaking in parliament Monday, opposition home affairs spokesman David Davis said the fact that Litvinenko was poisoned raised several issues about how materials that were normally only available to government were available.

Davis also said it was "incredibly important to resolve the question of whether the Russian state was involved."

Reid said the Russian ambassador had been called to the Foreign Office last Friday. "He was asked to convey to the Russian authorities our expectation that they should be ready to offer all necessary cooperation to the investigation as it proceeds."

'Attacks on liberty'

Litvinenko, a former KGB officer and vocal opponent of Putin, died on Thursday night after ingesting a large dose of radioactive polonium-210.

A statement he composed before his death pinned the blame on the Russian leader, a claim denied by the Kremlin.

London Metropolitan Police said Sunday they were investigating a "suspicious death," rather than a murder.

They have not ruled out the possibility that Litvinenko may have poisoned himself.

Litvinenko told police he believed he was poisoned November 1 while investigating the October slaying of Politkovskaya.

He was moved to intensive care last week after his hair fell out, his throat became swollen and his immune and nervous systems suffered severe damage.

Britain's Health Protection Agency called the poisoning by polonium-210 -- a rare radioactive element usually produced in a nuclear reactor or particle accelerator -- "an unprecedented event."

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