David Harrison
London Telegraph
Sunday, January 7, 2007

Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy, was the victim of a "double hit" by the assassins who poisoned him with radioactive polonium-210, police believe.

Detectives suspect that Mr Litvinenko, 44, who lived in north London, was first poisoned several days before he was attacked at a central London hotel on November 1.

Officers had initially believed he was first poisoned that day at the Itsu sushi bar in Piccadilly, central London, when he met Mario Scaramella, an Italian espionage expert, for lunch. But now Scotland Yard is investigating whether Mr Litvinenko was attacked several days before the lunch meeting and are examining his movements during that period.

Police believe the second attack took place at the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair. They are focusing their inquiries on two Russians – Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, both former KGB officers – who met Mr Litvinenko there on the day he fell ill.

His post-mortem examination revealed two "spikes" of radiation poisoning, suggesting he received two separate doses. A detective said last night: "It may well be that Mr Litvinenko's killers poisoned him twice, possibly because they wanted to make absolutely sure he would not recover."

On Friday it emerged that traces of polonium had been found in the Pescatori restaurant in Mayfair, where Mr Lugovoi is understood to have dined before November 1. The Health Protection Agency said it had monitored the restaurant last week at the request of police. Polonium traces had been found but there was no risk to public health, the agency said.

Detectives believe that Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun may have been in the restaurant on the same day they met Mr Litvinenko in the Millennium Hotel. Mr Litvinenko, a former lieutenant colonel in the FSB, successor to the KGB, became a business consultant and private security adviser in exile, and was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

Before Mr Litvinenko died in London on November 23, he blamed Mr Putin and his regime for his murder, a claim the Kremlin denies.

Tests have found radiation at all three hotels where Mr Lugovoi stayed after flying to London on October 16. Polonium-210 was also discovered aboard two aircraft on which he had travelled. Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun have admitted meeting Mr Litvinenko on November 1. Both men, and Vyacheslav Sokolenko, a third former KGB officer who was with them in London, have denied any involvement in the murder. Mr Lugovoi claims he is being framed.

Nine British detectives went to Moscow last month as part of their investigation. They were not allowed to interview Mr Lugovoi or Mr Kovtun directly but were present when Russian officers questioned them.

The Russian authorities have said that British officers cannot re-interview anyone who has already been questioned in Russia, and that any Russian who might be arrested in connection with the case will not be tried in a foreign country.