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Polonium
The public inquiry into Alexander Litvinenko’s death has heard that the ex-Russian spy may have been poisoned with polonium “not once but twice”.
Alexander Litvinenko died from radiation poisoning in a London hospital in November 2006 at the age of 43, nearly three weeks after drinking tea laced with the substance.
Russians,Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, have denied any involvement.
Alexander Litvinenko may also have been poisoned in October 2006, counsel to the inquiry Robin Tam QC said.
He had fled to the UK where he became a vocal critic of the Kremlin and worked for the UK’s intelligence service MI6.
Alexander Litvinenko had recalled feeling unwell around the time of a meeting at a security company in mid-October and “vomiting on one occasion about two or three weeks before being hospitalized”, Robin Tam said.
“Hair samples that are available indicate that Mr. Litvinenko may well have been poisoned twice and that the first occasion being much less severe than the second.”
The two men suspected of killing Alexander Litvinenko made three trips to London in the run up to his death and brought Polonium to try to kill him each time.
The judge-led inquiry was officially opened by presiding judge Sir Robert Owen at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Judge Robert Owen said Alexander Litvinenko’s death from radiation poisoning in London in 2006 had attracted “worldwide interest and concern”.
Alexandr Litvinenko’s widow Marina says he blamed the Kremlin as he lay dying in hospital, but Russia denies any involvement.
Her lawyer has described his murder as “an act of state-sponsored nuclear terrorism on the streets of London”.
Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, following a meeting with two Russians at the Millennium Hotel in central London.
Dmitry Kovtun and former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi – whom the UK police have identified as suspects in the case – have been invited to give evidence via videolink from Russia, Robert Owen said.
Andrei Lugovoi told Russian television station LifeNews TV on January 27 that there could be no fair trial in Britain.
“They classified the materials, saying Litvinenko co-operated with English intelligence. How can it be investigated impartially after that?” he said.
“This is why we pulled out in protest – we want it to be investigated but we want it to be impartial and, moreover, we want it investigated in Russia.”
Judge Robert Owen said sensitive evidence had established there was a “prima facie case” as to the culpability of the Russian state in Alexander Litvinenko’s death.
The judge said the use of polonium could have killed large numbers of people “or spread general panic and hysteria among the public”.
“The issues to which his death gives rise are of the utmost gravity and have attracted worldwide interest and concern,” he said.
Judge Robert Owen was originally appointed as the coroner at Alexander Litvinenko’s inquest but he called for a public inquiry because the inquest could not consider sensitive evidence due to national security fears.
The UK government resisted the move at first but later changed its stance last July, amid worsening relations with Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.
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Yasser Arafat was not poisoned when he died in 2004, French scientists concluded.
According to French media leaks, the scientists probing the death of the Palestinian leader have reportedly concluded he died after a “generalized infection”.
A previous report by Swiss scientists said tests on Yasser Arafat’s body showed “unexpected high activity” of polonium.
This “moderately” supported the theory, long believed by many Palestinians, that he was poisoned, the report said.
Yasser Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organization for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound.
Two weeks later Yasser Arafat was flown to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died on November 11, 2004, at the age of 75.
Yasser Arafat’s official medical records say he died from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder. French doctors were not able at the time to determine what had caused the disorder.
His body was exhumed for testing last year amid continuing claims he was murdered. Many Palestinians have accused Israel of being behind his death, something which Israel has always denied.
The latest reported findings were “not a surprise”, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.
Yasser Arafat fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound
In July 2012, an al-Jazeera documentary reported that scientists at the Swiss Institute of Radiation Physics had found “significant” traces of a highly radioactive and toxic material on personal effects given to Yasser Arafat’s widow Suha after his death, including his trademark keffiyeh.
Suha Arafat asked the Palestinian Authority to authorize the exhumation of his remains in order “to reveal the truth”.
The Palestinian Authority granted French investigators and a team of Swiss scientists permission to exhume Arafat’s body and take samples for testing. Russia also sent experts, and samples were sent to its Federal Medico-Biological Agency.
Suha Arafat also filed a civil suit at a court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, alleging that her husband was murdered by an unnamed “perpetrator X”. French prosecutors began a murder inquiry in August 2012.
Last month, a forensic expert said that the levels of polonium found in Yasser Arafat’s remains by the Swiss scientists were 18 to 36 times higher than normal.
However, they said their findings could not categorically prove the theory that he was poisoned.
The Swiss scientists had stressed that they had been unable to reach a more definitive conclusion because of the time that had lapsed since Yasser Arafat’s death, the limited samples available and the confused “chain of custody” of some of the specimens.
Also on Tuesday, a Palestinian investigator said he would soon name the people he believed were responsible for Yasser Arafat’s death.
Late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had high levels of radioactive polonium in his body, Swiss scientists have confirmed.
However, they could not say whether polonium poisoning had caused his death in 2004.
Their report concluded that Yasser Arafat’s remains showed levels of polonium 18 times higher than normal.
Many Palestinians have long believed that Israel poisoned Yasser Arafat. There have also been allegations that he had AIDS or cancer. Israel has consistently denied any involvement.
The scientists – from the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland – had carried out a detailed examination of Arafat’s medical records, samples taken from his remains and items he had taken into the hospital in Paris where he died in 2004.
The biological materials included pieces of Yasser Arafat’s bones and soil samples from around his corpse.
Yasser Arafat had high levels of radioactive polonium in his body
Professor Francois Bochud told a news conference on Thursday that the high level of polonium detected “by definition… indicates third party involvement… Our results offer moderate backing for the theory of poisoning.”
But he went on to say: “Was polonium the cause of the death for certain? The answer is no, we cannot show categorically that hypothesis that the poisoning caused was this or that.”
In their report, the scientists had stressed that they had been unable to reach a more definitive conclusion because of the time that had lapsed since Yasser Arafat’s death, the limited samples available and the confused “chain of custody” of some of the specimens.
Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive substance. It is found naturally in low doses in food and in the body, but can be fatal if ingested in high doses.
Yasser Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organization for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound in the West Bank.
Two weeks later Yasser Arafat was flown to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died on November 11, 2004, aged 75.
His official medical records say he died from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
France began a murder inquiry in August 2012 after the preliminary findings of polonium by the Lausanne scientists, who have been working with an al-Jazeera documentary crew.
Parallel investigations are being carried out by French and Russian experts – one Russian official said last month that no traces of polonium had been found.
Ysser Arafat’s widow, Suha Arafat, who had objected to a post-mortem at the time of his death, agreed for his body to be exhumed a year ago “to reveal the truth”.
Welcoming the Swiss report, Suha Arafat said she had no doubt that her husband had been assassinated but refused to point the finger at Israel.
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Polonium-210 is a naturally occurring radioactive material that emits highly hazardous alpha (positively charged) particles.
It was first discovered by Marie Curie at the end of the 19th century.
There are very small amounts of polonium-210 in the soil and in the atmosphere, and everyone has a small amount of it in their body.
At high doses, the substance damages tissues and organs.
Polonium-210, historically called radium F, is very hard for doctors to identify.
Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with polonium-210
It cannot pass through the skin, and must be ingested or inhaled into the body to cause damage.
And because the radiation has a very short range, polonium-210 only harms nearby tissue.
The substance has industrial uses such as static control and as a heat source for satellite power supplies, but is not available in these areas in a form conducive to easy poisoning.
Polonium-210 is also present in tobacco.
Although polonium-210 occurs naturally in the environment, acquiring enough of it to kill would require individuals with expertise and connections.
Polonium-210 would also need sophisticated lab facilities – and access to a nuclear reactor.
Alternatively, it could have been obtained from a commercial supplier.
Polonium-210 can either be extracted from rocks containing radioactive uranium or separated chemically from the substance radium-226.
Production of polonium from radium-226 would need sophisticated lab facilities because the latter substance produces dangerous levels of penetrating radiation.
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According to a Swiss forensic report obtained by al-Jazeera, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with radioactive polonium.
Yasser Arafat’s official medical records say he died in 2004 from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
However, Yasser Arafat’s body was exhumed last year amid continuing claims he was murdered.
The Swiss report said tests on the body showed “unexpected high activity” of polonium, which “moderately” supported the poisoning theory.
Many Palestinians and others have long believed that Israel poisoned Arafat. Others allege that he had Aids or cancer. Israel has consistently denied any involvement.
A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said the Swiss investigation was “more soap opera than science”.
The scientists – from the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland – carried out a detailed examination of Yasser Arafat’s medical records, samples taken from his remains and items he had taken into the hospital in Paris where he died in 2004.
They concluded that their results “moderately support the proposition that the death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210”.
The scientists stressed that they had been unable to reach a more definitive conclusion because of the time that had lapsed since Yasser Arafat’s death, the limited samples available and the confused “chain of custody” of some of the specimens.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with radioactive polonium
Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive substance. It is found naturally in low doses in food and in the body, but can be fatal if ingested in high doses.
Parallel investigations are being carried out by French and Russian experts – one Russian official said last month that no traces of polonium had been found.
Speaking in Paris, Yasser Arafat’s widow, Suha, said the Swiss results revealed “a real crime, a political assassination”.
“This has confirmed all our doubts. It is scientifically proved that he didn’t die a natural death and we have scientific proof that this man was killed.”
Reuters said Yasser Arafat’s widow did not name any suspects and acknowledged that her husband had had many enemies in his lifetime.
Yasser Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organization for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 at his compound.
Two weeks later Yasser Arafat was flown to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died on November 11, 2004, aged 75.
France began a murder inquiry in August 2012 after the Lausanne scientists, working with an al-Jazeera documentary crew, found traces of polonium-210 on Yasser Arafat’s personal effects.
His widow had objected to a post-mortem at the time of his death, but asked the Palestinian Authority to permit the exhumation “to reveal the truth”.
Yasser Arafat’s remains were removed from his tomb in the West Bank city of Ramallah in November 2012 and reinterred the same day.
Last month, the head of the Russian Federal Medico-Biological Agency, Vladimir Uiba, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that Yasser Arafat “could not have been poisoned with polonium”, saying that test carried out by Russian experts “found no traces of this substance”.
However, the agency later denied that Vladimir Uiba had made any official statement on the findings.
The head of the Palestinian investigation team, Tawfiq Tirawi, confirmed on Tuesday that the Russian and Swiss reports had been delivered. The Palestinian team is reported to have handed over its findings on Saturday.
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