Russian FSB Fed Italian With Five Times Lethal Dose

The Italian who met Alexander Litvinenko for a sushi lunch said on Monday  he had five times the lethal dose of polonium in his body.

Mario Scaramella, a security adviser and nuclear expert, is being treated at University College Hospital.

In a statement issued today he said: "The urine examinations found traces of polonium significantly lower than that which was used to kill Mr Litvinenko, but they were still considered to be potentially lethal and therefore capable of killing me."

Speaking late last night from his hospital bed in a telephone interview on Italian TV, he added: "I have five times the lethal amount of polonium in my body so my humour is not at its best."

As the mystery deepens, Mr Litvinenko's death will be discussed today at a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels. Home Secretary John Reid said he would be exchanging information with colleagues at the European Council.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard is closing in on the leading suspects in the plot.

Detectives are flying to Moscow this week to question five men, including one who made several trips to London in the fortnight before the former spy fell ill, the FSB agent Andrei Lugovoi, This is London reported.

Meanwhile, four Greeks are undergoing medical tests after having frequented a London hotel or restaurant that were visited by Russian defector Litvinenko before he fell ill and died from radiocative poisoning inflicted by Russian security agents, authorities said on Saturday,

Urine and blood samples from the four people, who were not identified, were sent to the Demokritos state-run nuclear center in Athens, Deputy Health Minister Thanassis Yiannopoulos said.

“Results are expected in the next few days,” he added.

According to some reports, three of the four people are from the Ionian island of Corfu.

Yiannopoulos also described as “annoying” the lack of information from British authorities on many aspects of the case.

Officials said that the number of Greeks who had been to the hotel or sushi restaurant and were expected to undergo examinations was likely to increase in the coming days.

The head of the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Leonidas Kamarinopoulos, told AFP that almost 500 Greek passengers who had traveled on two British Airways planes in which radioactive traces were subsequently found had telephoned the GAEC.