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Related: Poisoned former Russian spy
dies
 Britain steps up radiation checks
BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A top British official said
Sunday an inquiry into the death of a poisoned ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko,
who died in London after he was exposed to a rare radioactive element, had
expanded overseas.
"The police will follow wherever this investigation
leads; inside or outside Britain," Home Secretary John Reid told Sky News. "Over
the next few days … all of these things, I think, will widen out a little from
the circle just being here in Britain."
Scotland Yard officers, assisted by the FBI, have
already traveled to Virginia to interview former KGB officer Yuri Shvets.
A United States-based friend of the former Russian
spy Litvinenko said he had given police the name of a suspect he believes
orchestrated his killing, according to Associated Press' report.
Shvets said he had known Litvinenko since 2002 and
had spoken to him on Nov. 23, the day he died.
"The truth is, we have an act of international
terrorism on our hands. I happen to believe I know who is behind the death of my
friend Sasha (Litvinenko) and the reason for his murder," Yuri Shvets said in an
exclusive interview with the AP by telephone from the United States.
"This is firsthand information, this is not gossip. I
gave them the firsthand information that I have," Shvets told the AP.
"I want this inquiry to get to the bottom of it,
otherwise they will be killing people all over the world - in London, in
Washington and in other places," Shvets said.
Moreover, police sources confirmed that
counter-terrorism officers were expected to leave for Moscow "very soon", though
a spokeswoman at Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London's Metropolitan
Police, declined to comment.
The BBC said nine officers could travel to Russia as
early as Monday.
A report in the News of the World newspaper,
Britain's biggest-selling weekly tabloid, said they were to interview the three
Russians who met Litvinenko on Nov. 1, shortly before he fell ill.
(Agencies)
Radiation traces found at 12 locations in Britain
LONDON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Experts investigating the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko have found radiation traces at 12 locations, British Home Secretary John Reid said on Thursday.
Reid revealed that 24 locations including two British Airways planes have been monitored, Sky news reported.
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