UK police are investigating after a Russian former security agent in exile in Britain was poisoned by thallium. Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB colonel and critic of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on 1 November after a meeting at a London sushi bar. A clinical toxicologist said the 43-year-old had been poisoned with a potentially lethal dose of the metal. Mr Litvinenko is in a serious but stable condition in University College Hospital, London. He is reported to be under armed guard. '50/50 chance' Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a harsh critic of Mr Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya, who was killed in Moscow 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.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB colonel and critic of President Vladimir Putin, fell ill on 1 November after a meeting at a London sushi bar.
A clinical toxicologist said the 43-year-old had been poisoned with a potentially lethal dose of the metal.
Mr Litvinenko is in a serious but stable condition in University College Hospital, London.
He is reported to be under armed guard.
'50/50 chance'
Mr Litvinenko had been investigating the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a harsh critic of Mr Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya, who was killed in Moscow 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.
