Poison suspected in former Russian official's illness

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MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Doctors for former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar suspect he was poisoned when he fell ill last week in Ireland, his daughter, Maria Gaidar, said Thursday.

The doctors came to that conclusion because they can't find any other reason for his illness, she said.

The doctors said there's been no heart attack and no problem with blood pressure or insulin, Maria Gaidar said.

"I think it was poison, but I'm absolutely sure it was not the political authorities who carried it out; it makes no sense," she said. She guessed that forces intent on destabilizing Russia may have tried to harm her father.

Irish police have launched an investigation into the suspected poisoning. They want to interview anyone who had contact with the politician while he visited the country last week for a conference.

Officers have questioned hospital and medical staff and members of the diplomatic corps to trace Gaidar's movements in Ireland.

A member of the Irish parliament demanded emergency radioactivity tests everywhere Gaidar visited, but police said that wasn't necessary.

"Public health and safety is of paramount importance, and there is nothing known which indicates that any member of the public is at risk. If this situation changes, appropriate action will be taken," the police said.

Gaidar's condition sparked a flurry of interest in the media Thursday after The Associated Press reported that his aide, Valery Natarov, said Gaidar had been poisoned, on the heels of the death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko from suspected radiation poisoning. (Full story)

The mystery intensified later when Natarov told CNN that he was only relaying what Gaidar had told him, and that he had not spoken to Gaidar's doctors himself.

The spokesman discouraged links between Gaidar's illness and the death of Litvinenko, and said it was too early to say if the former prime minister's condition is linked to poison.

Natarov said the former prime minister asked him not to reveal the name of the hospital in Russia where he was taken after returning from Ireland.

He said Gaidar told him that doctors have not established exactly what caused his illness, but are expected to announce a diagnosis next week.

Police and local officials in Maynooth -- the area in Ireland where Gaidar visited last week -- told CNN that a stomach virus had been going around in the region.

Gaidar's health has markedly improved, Natarov said, and he may even be released from the hospital next week.

Litvinenko died November 23, three weeks after being admitted to a hospital in London for what he said was a deliberate poisoning.

The radioactive element polonium-210 was found in his system, Scotland Yard said.

As news of the poisoning scare broke, Irish Green Party parliamentary spokesman Ciaran Cuffe urged the RPII to carry out precautionary tests for radioactivity.

"The RPII should show absolutely no hesitation in making sure that people working at, and visiting, the James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown and the NUI Maynooth are free from any health risks," he said, according to the Press Association.

CNN's Matthew Chance, Ryan Chilcote and Susan Garraty contributed to this report.

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