Traces of radiation have been found at the offices of the billionaire Russian exile Boris Berezovsky and a security firm which employs the former commander of Britain's special forces. Polonium 210, the rare radioactive element thought to have killed the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, has been found at Mr Berezovsky's offices and those of the private security firm Erinys.
Erinys employs Major-General John Holmes, a former commander of the SAS and former director of British Special Forces at its offices in Grosvenor Street, Mayfair.
The company employs 16,000, largely ex-Forces personnel in Iraq to guard oil installations and has connections around the world, including Moscow.
Mr Berezovsky, one of Russia's first "oligarchs" made his wealth in automotives and oil before falling out with President Putin and being granted asylum in Britain.
As police sealed off part of his offices in Down Street, Mayfair, yesterday he was described by a friend as "extremely nervous".
The friend added: "He is deeply shocked by Alexander Litvinenko's death and fears he could be next.
Police confirmed that radiation had been found at the two addresses but were still unable to explain the sequence of events that led them to the two sites.
A source said: "We are still trying to piece together Litvinenko's movements, who he met and where."
The Health Protection Agency said it had received 450 calls over the weekend and asked three members of the public who may have come into contact with Mr Litvinenko and are showing possible symptoms of radiation poisoning to take further tests.
The symptoms include sickness, vomiting and bleeding gums. The people involved have been asked to take urine tests.
Forty members of the medical staff at University College Hospital and Barnet General, where Mr Litvinenko was treated, have also been sent for tests after the HPA conducted assessments.
It is understood that close members of Mr Litvinenko's family, including his wife, Marina and 12-year-old son, have also been offered the tests, which can take up to a week.
Prof Pat Troop, the chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said they had not identified when and where Mr Litvinenko ingested the poison, adding that working out the time of poisoning on the basis of the radioactivity found in his body was "not a precise calculation".
Police were continuing searches of the Pine Bar and fourth floor rooms at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, where Mr Litvinenko met Andrei Lugovoi, a private security specialist from Moscow, and Dmitry Kovtun.
They have now completed checks at the Itsu sushi restaurant in Piccadilly where Mr Litvinenko met an Italian intelligence adviser, Mario Scaramella, for lunch.
At that lunch he was handed a list of possible targets provided by an informant in France, which included himself and Mr Berezovsky. It is thought that Mr Litvinenko may have gone to Mr Berezovsky's office with the list to photocopy it.
Erinys said yesterday that Mr Litvinenko had visited its offices on an unrelated matter and it had later called the Metropolitan Police.
Workers at other offices in the block said the premises on the fourth floor have been sealed off since Sunday.
In a statement composed before his death on Thursday, Mr Litvinenko, who had recently become a British citizen, pointed the finger at Mr Putin.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, said the Russian authorities had been asked to provide "all necessary co-operation" with the investigation.
In an emergency statement to MPs, he said the Russian ambassador was called to the Foreign Office on Friday.
"He was asked to convey to the Russian authorities our expectation that they should be ready to offer all necessary co-operation to the investigation as it proceeds," Mr Reid told the House of Commons.
At the weekend the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain criticised the "very murky murder" of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an opponent of Mr Putin.
Yesterday Tony Blair's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister and other ministers have repeatedly underlined our concerns about some aspects of human rights in Russia. In terms of this particular case, we have to proceed carefully."
Mr Reid would not confirm that the incident would be discussed when Mr Blair and President Putin meet next week. "To some extent it will depend on developments," he said.
Source: Daily Telegraph
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