BBC NEWS | UK | Poisoned ex-spy 'slightly worse'

BBC NEWS | UK | Poisoned ex-spy 'slightly worse': "Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an outspoken critic of Mr Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya, who was shot dead at her Moscow apartment building last month.

Speaking to the BBC last week, he said a contact had approached him to say they should talk, and they arranged to meet at a restaurant in Piccadilly.


'He gave me some papers which contained some names - perhaps names of those who may have been involved in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya - and several hours after the meeting I started to feel sick.'

Two weeks later Mr Litvinenko was taken seriously ill and admitted to hospital.

Mr Henry said Mr Litvinenko was 'quite seriously sick' and there was 'no doubt' he had been poisoned by thallium, probably on 1 November.

'It is tasteless, colourless, odourless. It takes about a gram - you know, a large pinch of salt like in your food - to kill you', he said.

Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who also lives in Britain, said thallium was a 'special' poison, that 'you couldn't just get over the counter'.

'You could say it is only available to secret services,' he said."