Dec 19 2006
More People Showing Up Contaminated
Three more people have shown up contaminated with Polonium-210. They are hotel workers with two coming from the Millenium Hotel (Oct 30th – Nov 1st) and one from the Sheraton Park Lane (Oct 25-27th):
Three new people have tested positive for low levels of the radioactive element that killed Alexander Litvinenko, it was disclosed today.
Tests on two members of staff at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair and on one at the Sheraton Hotel in Park Lane have shown exposure to polonium 210, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has said. The agency said that the levels were not significant enough to result in illness.
It is important to keep track of the levels of contamination and scope of the contamination because it is an indicator of how much Polonium-210 was deposited at each site. Right now the Millenium Hotel is the hotest site, with the Sheraton or Litvinenko’s house possibly coming in second Also vying for a place in the second tier is the first hotel at Knightsbridge. The fact no one has shown contamination besides Scaramella would indicate the Sushi Restaurant is below these sites in terms of dosage and spread, and it represents a third tier site (along with the Aersanl stadium, planes, cars, sites in Germany, etc).
What is not clear is where Berezvosky’s office and the two security firms show up. If they are tier two sites then that means substantial amounts were walked into these locations – though the security firms I believe are back open for business (making them tier three sites). Tier one is the site of the poisoning and remains the Millenium hotel. We do get a clue that these last two cases where not associated with the Pine Bar (all seven of those people tested positive) and must therefore be associated with the rooms themselves:
A spokesman said that all open public areas at both hotels had been assessed and were judged to present “no significant public health risk”.
My guess is we are seeing the contamination from the rooms Lugovoi and Kovtun stayed in. I still think there was an earlier meeting with Litvinenko and Kovtun and Lugovoi where they went to the security firms and possibly one place else. I still believe the actually poisoning ofg Litvinenko happened in one of the hotel rooms before the trio took off on their rounds.
And I suspect all three visited Berezovsky’s office – which seems to show a lot of contamination. We know the couch was hot, as was the copy machine. And the story to date from Berezovsky’s people is this was Litvinenko dropping by after the meeting with Scaramella. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the two songbirds in Moscow Lugovoi and Kovtun) have corrected the trail of events and when the meetings at Berezovsky’s took place. Lugovoi mentioned paying Litvinenko for his efforts. But Litvinenko should have been paid by Berezovsky – unless Lugovoi was the coordinator of everything dealing with the Polonium 210. Then Berezosvky would pay Lugovoi, who would in turn pay Litvinenko – as he said was the case. So one last meeting with Berezovsky to confirm “mission accomplished” seems to be in order for November 1st.
If I am right, expect to see some more of Alex Goldfarb as he attempts to spin the Berezovsky office contamination now as resulting from Lugovoi and/or Kovtun dropping in. This new found revelation will attempt to make adjustements to the alibi that Litvinenko dropped by Berezovsky’s office (which also may have happened). What we need to remember in these timelines is there is no requirement that a location only be visited once or contaminated once. With Scotland Yard leaving Moscow now is the time for Goldfarb to speak up to provide an alibi/diversion for the office contamination.
Major Update: We may have a fourth hotel contaminated in this case. A while back I pointed to news that a Swedish couple had been asked to submit for testing because of feared contamination from a fourth, unidentified hotel. Now Fox News is reporting a fourth person has been found contaminated, and that person is a Swede – but there is no mention of what hotel is the center of interest. I would not be surprised if this is an earlier drop by Lugovoi, predating the Oct 16th date as the first round of smuggling.
Could this be the Shaftsbury Hotel or the Best WEstern Hotel in Shaftsbury that was reported being inspected and possibly PO found about a week ago – my memory is failing me here but I think it was last week – we don’t know who stayed there as I recall
Lizarde1,
I do not think so because that hotel was being checked because it is where Scaramella stayed and it was given the all clear. This one has not been named for some reason – which is why it caught my eye.
I will translate from SvD, which is a well respected Swedish daily. They, in their turn is receiving information from Swedish news agent TT.
“A Swede who stayed in the same hotel as the poisoned ex-spy has increased levels of polonium in his/her body.
This has occurred after this person has been in the London hotel bar which Litvinenko visited.
– We have found a slight secretion of poloniym in the urine of one of the investigated Swedes, says emergency specialist Dr. Johan Holst, there is no health threat to this person. We see no reason for further medical check-ups of this patient. “
AJ had a second so found this: could this swede be one of these two or yet another Swede???
In addition, a Swedish couple that had stayed at the Shaftesbury Hotel near Picadilly were Tuesday tested at the oncology unit at Lund University Hospital in southern Sweden, the Stockholm daily Expressen reported.
The hotel room the couple had stayed in apparently had traces of polonium.
Monsters and Critics:
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1232725.php/Swedish_visitors_at_London_hotel_tested_in_Litvinenko_case
I believe there was a report very early on of Lugovoi meeting with Boris earlier in the day but there have been so many reports since and it has been so long ago, that I am no longer positive.
I do remember thinking at the time I read it, that it appeared some monkey business was going on because people were meeting with Boris, then meeting with Litvinenko, then meeting with Boris and Litvinenko. I got the impression from the pattern of meetings that Lugovoi was discussing something with Boris offline from his discussions in the presence of Litvinenko.
I thought the hotel where Scaramella stayed was called something like the Ashton Park but not sure – this would be the hotel he stayed in when he was in protective custody. It could well have stayed in another hotel the night of the sushi bar but I thought he then went directly back to Italy – details fade as time goes by in this case so sorry if I have something wrong here.
CP – well, Lugovoy got his wife and kids and Sokolenko out of the picture at 10 a.m. that morning when they all went off sight seeing. And we don’t know where he went or who he met with exactly and when till the Pine Bar moment around 4 or 5 as far as I can remember the details.
The Swede who was found to have elevated polonium values is supposed to have “visited the same bar that Litvinenko visited”.
They said they had 6 Swedes from the Milennium hotel, and one additional couple from the “Shaftesbury hotel”. Four Swedes have been cleared previously, and now one Swede has been found to have slightly elevated values. It is not clear what the status of the other three is.
Reference to my previous post: http://www.svd.se, a reputable Swedish daily, directly quoting the original source (TT, the Swedish news agent).
Thanks Lostinthedrift – the reporting and followup/summary reporting sure doesn’t make it easy. Occasionally I’ve noticed news stories talking about “the hotel where Litvinenko stayed” just to add to the confusion (I assume they mean the hotel where Lugovoy stayed and Litvinenko had a meeting at the Pine Bar)
Yeah, they’re saying that in the Swedish papers as well “the hotel where Lit stayed”.
AJStrata,
“If I am right, expect to see some more of Alex Goldfarb as he attempts to spin the Berezovsky…”
A small point, but — you will, in all likelihood, see much more of Goldfarb as the spokeperson for the Litvinenko family and Berezovsky in this matter. Regardless of whether you are right or wrong, it’s the man’s job, so his continuing to speak for them to the press is not particularly indicative or proof of anything, unless you damn them all on a flimsy “protests too much” charge…
Re. the most recently contaminated Swede:
“The person with the increased level of polonium visited the bar at the hotel in London where Litvinenko stayed. No treatment is required, said Holst.”
http://www.thelocal.se/5851/20061219/
According to that report, the site was the Millennium’s Pine Bar.
The problem with Goldfarb’s statements so far is that he seems to want to play the role of police investigator in this case and state to the media who the guilty parties are. Rather than taking a stance along the lines of being willing to assist the police in any way he can, he is taking a stance of “that guy over there did it!” which seems a bit odd.
It is as if he would want to cut any investigation short and simply arrest Kovtun and be done with the whole matter. I wonder why he is so keen on not having a proper investigation move forward. I believe he is a lawyer and understands that criminal investigations take time. In fact, he is Berezovsky’s lawyer. He might be “spokesman” for the family, but it is his role as Berezovsky’s lawyer that is bothersome.
Who appointed him “spokesman” for the family? Or did he simply assume that role? Interesting that Berezovsky’s lawyer would be Litvinenko’s spokesman.
Seems almost like Bruce Cutler being spokesman for the Paul Castellano family if you ask me.
Crosspatch,
“Who appointed him “spokesman†for the family? Or did he simply assume that role? Interesting that Berezovsky’s lawyer would be Litvinenko’s spokesman.”
I don’t know who asked him to speak for the Litvinenko family, but have read satements from him and Marina Litvinenko that he is their spokesperson. As a Russian still learning English, she may not feel completely comfortable to speak to the press without assistance.
Alex Goldfarb may be a lawyer, and although I read that before from commenters here, have never seen that in the press — so I don’t know that it’s true; but he is the executive director of the International Foundation for Civil Liberties, a Berezovsky-funded human rights organization, and most lucrative NGOs are very involved with handling statements to the press.
FYI Goldfarb is also a biologist!
lizarde1,
I am a recovering biologist. I design command and control systems.
AJStrata
I believe this is Goldfarb’s CV: Ph.D., Moscow State University, M.S., 1969; Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, Ph.D., 1980; Max Planck Institute, Germany, Post Doc., 1980-1981; Columbia University Department of Microbiology, Assistant Professor, 1982-1991; PHRI, 1992-present.
did we know about this search?: French police searched the villa of self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky on the French Riviera Wednesday morning as part of a probe into suspected money laundering, judicial sources told the AFP news agency.
Berezovky, a 59-year-old tycoon wanted by Russia and living in exile in Britain, was not in the residence when 20 policemen conducted the search.
The Russian magnate had acquired through foreign firms two of the most sought-after villas in Cap-d’Antibes for 22 million euros in 1997, police said.
sorry have to add this:
He (Goldfarb) met Litvinenko in a Russian prison in the late 1990s when he was director of a George Soros-funded project to tackle TB in the penal system and Litvinenko was awaiting trial on charges of abuse of office.