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Two Others Test Positive for Radiation, British Officials Say
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Sergio Rastrelli, a lawyer for Scaramella, was asked in a televised interview in Italy on Friday whether Scaramella was a witness or suspect in the case. "He is absolutely a witness, and now, unfortunately, he is also a person who has been offended by a crime committed by a third party."
In Russia, human rights activists said a letter written by a former Russian intelligence agent claimed that the Federal Security Service, or FSB, had established death squads to kill Litvinenko and other critics of the Kremlin.
"Back in 2002, I warned Litvinenko that they had formed a team to kill him," the letter said. Activists said the letter was written by Mikhail Trepashkin, a former officer of the KGB and its successor, the FSB.
Trepashkin was sentenced to four years in prison in 2005 for divulging state secrets. Before his arrest, Trepashkin was investigating the possible role of the FSB in a series of apartment bombings in 1999 in which hundreds of people died -- a subject about which Litvinenko had written a book. Amnesty International and other human rights groups have said Trepashkin was jailed to prevent further investigation into the bombings.
Police in Sussex, south of London, said they assisted Scotland Yard and the Health Protection Agency in an investigation at the Ashdown Park Hotel in East Sussex on Friday. British and Italian media said Scaramella had stayed at the hotel recently and that authorities were looking for traces of radiation.
Matthew Long, deputy general manager at the Ashdown Park Hotel, said in an interview that police found "no evidence of radiation" after searching for hours. Long said the investigation was started because of concern that "we had a guest who might have been suffering from radiation."
Pathologists in protective gear conducted a postmortem exam on Litvinenko's body Friday. Results are not expected to be announced for several days. The BBC reported that because of the radiation, his remains will be buried in a sealed coffin.
Pat Troop, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said the risk to others who came into casual contact with Litvinenko remains negligible.
Delaney reported from Rome. Correspondents Kevin Sullivan in London and Peter Finn in Moscow contributed to this report.
