Poisoned-spy inquiry focuses on London hotel

Investigators focused on London's Millennium Hotel on Friday, as evidence grew that it was the scene of a sensational crime -- the place where someone poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko with the lethal radioactive substance polonium-210.

Litvinenko huddled over tea and gin there at a meeting last month with two fellow Russians -- a gathering that may have led to his death, the hospitalization of a Russian businessman and the deteriorating relations between Britain and Russia.

Litvinenko had dashed to the hotel's Pine Bar the morning of Nov. 1 to discuss a joint business venture with Andrei Lugovoi, also an ex-Soviet agent, and Russian businessman Dmitry Kovtun. Alex Goldfarb, a friend of Litvinenko, said the former spy sipped tea during the meeting, while Lugovoi said he recalls ordering a bottle of gin.

That afternoon, Litvinenko also met with Mario Scaramella, an Italian security expert, at a Piccadilly sushi bar.

By evening, the 43-year-old Litvinenko was in a London hospital with stomach pains and nausea. He died on Nov. 23 from radiation that caused his hair to fall out and his organs to fail.

The inquiry into Litvinenko's death has taken investigators across the globe. Scientists assisted police Friday as they combed through the quarantined Millennium Hotel bar. All seven staff members working at the bar on Nov. 1 showed evidence of exposure to polonium-210, Britain's Health Protection Agency said.

Dr. Michael Clark of the Health Protection Agency said it's likely the poisoning occurred in the hotel bar, and explained how the three Russians and bar workers may have been exposed.

"People go to bars to drink, eat and smoke -- all of which are possibilities for the poisoning," Clark said on Friday.

He said the minuscule dose of polonium-210 required to kill somebody could have been discreetly added to food or drink. "If it was some sort of liquid, it could have been -- as in James Bond -- a little magic capsule," he told reporters.

The substance is so dangerous that a lethal dose would occupy a space just 100 micrometers across -- slightly larger than the point of a pin. Polonium-210 is available by mail, but one vendor in New Mexico, Bob Lazar, has noted that he sells such small amounts that 15,000 orders would be needed to potentially harm someone.

Around 200 other people who visited the hotel bar on Nov. 1 were being contacted and offered tests, British health officials said. The hotel, in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood, is only one stop on a radioactive trail that winds through some of the city's most exclusive districts.

Police have confirmed traces of polonium-210 at about a dozen locations -- including three downtown hotels, a soccer stadium and a business district office building used by self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky.

On Thursday, polonium was discovered at the Parkes Hotel, also in Knightsbridge. Lugovoi stayed there Oct. 16.

The inquiry stretched to yet another country Friday, as German police searched an apartment in Hamburg used by Kovtun for traces of polonium-210. They sealed off a wide area surrounding the three-story apartment house.

"Other possible places where he stayed as well as other people Kovtun came in contact with are also being checked," police said in a statement.

Scaramella was hospitalized last week in London. He said doctors told him he had received five times the lethal dose of polonium-210, although he showed no symptoms. He left the hospital Wednesday.

In Moscow, Kovtun had "developed an illness also connected with the radioactive nuclide (substance)," Russian prosecutors said. Lugovoi was tested for radiation poisoning in a hospital, and Russia's Interfax news agency said he showed signs of contamination.

Despite the reports of deadly radiation in London, many residents seemed unconcerned, noting that health officials say there is little threat to the public.

"I'm not too worried. Everything is under control," said Stephanie Widorini, a 23-year-old student, ducking past the doorway of the Millennium Hotel.

"We're so geared up for terrorism that it's just another incident," said Lesley Driscoll, 58, who works near the hotel.