Man Cleared of Radiation Contamination

Italian academic Mario Scaramella is seen in this 2006 photo taken in Naples, southern Italy, and made available Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006. Scaramella confirmed that he met with former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on Nov. 1 before the former agent was taken to an emergency room suffering from stomach pains and nausea. Litvinenko died in hospital on Nov. 23 by apparent poisoning. Investigators are trying to piece together details of what company he was keeping in his last days and who might have wanted to kill him. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta) (Salvatore Laporta - AP)

LONDON -- An Italian security expert who was one of the last people to meet with a former KGB agent who fell fatally ill said Wednesday that tests cleared him of radioactive contamination.

Mario Scaramella came from Rome to meet with Alexander Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on Nov. 1 _ the day the former intelligence agent first reported the symptoms that ultimately led to his death in a hospital's intensive care ward.

In a deathbed accusation, the harsh Kremlin critic blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning. Putin has strongly denied the charge.

High doses of polonium-210 _ a rare radioactive element usually manufactured in specialized nuclear facilities _ were found in his body _ and Britain's health protection agency began a screening program for people who visited the same sites as Litvinenko on Nov. 1.

"I am fine," Scaramella told The Associated Press by telephone. "I am not contaminated and have not contaminated anybody else."

Scaramella returned to London to undergo tests and talk with the police Tuesday. He said he is in security protection and refused to say where he was.

More than three dozen staff at the two hospitals that treated Litvinenko will be tested for radioactive contamination, Britain's Health Protection Agency said.

The agency said 106 staff at Barnet General Hospital and University College Hospital had been assessed for possible exposure, and 49 would have their urine tested.

The mysterious death has clouded Anglo-Russian relations. Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that police were determined to find out who was responsible for Litvinenko's death.

"The police investigation will proceed, and I think people should know that there is no diplomatic or political barrier in the way of that investigation," Blair said in Copenhagen, Denmark. "It is obviously a very, very serious matter indeed. We are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible."

Media reports in Britain and Russia on Wednesday said that Litvinenko had been engaged in smuggling nuclear substances out of Russia.

The Independent newspaper reported that Litvinenko told Scaramella on the day he fell ill that he had organized the smuggling of nuclear material for his former employers at Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB. The newspaper reported that Litvinenko said he had smuggled radioactive material to Zurich in 2000.