A policeman leaves a business address in Grosvenor Street in west London. Police investigating the poisoning death of former spy Alexander Litvinenko have sealed off the London office of exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky after finding traces of radiation. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    Mario Scaramella, the Italian security expert, who helped investigate KGB activity in Italy during the Cold War, said he met Alexander Litvinenko at a London sushi restaurant on Nov. 1.

    Scaramella said he showed Litvinenko e-mails from a confidential source identifying the possible killers of a Russian investigative journalist and listing other potential targets for assassination -- including himself and Litvinenko.

    Scaramella said Tuesday he was being protected by a security team and would be tested for traces of polonium-210, the rare radioactive element found in Litvinenko's body. He declined to say whether he would be questioned by police.

    London police say they are investigating the Litvinenko case as a "suspicious death" rather than murder, although they have devoted a large anti-terrorist force to the inquiry.

    Prime Minister Tony Blair said police were determined to solve the mystery of Litvinenko's death.

    Since Litvinenko's death, more than 1,100 people have called a health hotline over concerns they may be at risk from polonium poisoning. Eight people are being tested for possible exposure to polonium-210, which is deadly in tiny amounts if ingested or inhaled. Home Secretary John Reid told lawmakers Monday that the tests were a precaution and there was little risk to public health.

    "The nature of this radiation is such that it does not travel over long distances, a few centimeters at most, and therefore there is no need for public alarm," Reid said.

    (Agencies)

Related Stories: Russia denies intelligence service's role in ex-agent's death

    MOSCOW, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov denied claims that Russia's intelligence service was involved in the death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

    "I rule out this possibility and see no sense in it. I was not personally acquainted with Litvinenko, but I know that he worked in a division of the Federal Security Service (FSB) which dealt with organized crime," Ivanov said in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, the transcript of which was posted on his ministry's website on Tuesday.

Radioactive traces found in London

    BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Traces of radiation have been found at several more sites in London during investigations into the death of a former Russian spy, British Home Secretary John Reid said on Monday.

    Besides Alexander Litvinenko's home and a hotel and restaurant he visited on Nov. 1, the day he fell ill with radiation poisoning, "several other premises" also have the indications of radiation. But Reid didn't give the names of the places and said there was no need for public alarm.

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