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Litvinenko Poisoners May Have Tried More Than Once

January 23, 2007 -- The BBC says former Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, who died two months ago in London, may have survived a first attempt to poison him with radioactive polonium-210 in mid-October.

A documentary broadcast on the BBC on January 22 said the attempt to poison Litvinenko may have been made on October 16 when Litvinenko met two Russian contacts at the same London sushi bar where he fell sick two weeks later.

Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic, died on November 23. On his deathbed, he blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his killing. The Kremlin denies any involvement.

The sushi bar was one of several London occasions where police found traces of polonium-210.

Meanwhile, the British "Times" newspaper reported last week that British police had a photo taken by a security camera of the man suspected of being Litvinenko's killer.

Scotland Yard refuses to discuss its ongoing investigation into Litvinenko's death.

The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office today denied reports it has suspended its investigation against exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky.

A lawyer for Berezovsky on January 22 said the investigation had been suspended due to difficulties in investigating a refugee. Russian prosecutors have charged Berezovsky, who lives in London, with seeking to forcefully grab power.

They are also seeking to question Berezovsky as part of their own investigation into the Litvinenko poisoning

(BBC, Reuters, Interfax, Ekho Moskvy)

Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org