Spy case focus turns to mysterious Italian

THE focus of the inquiry into the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko shifted towards his Italian contact today, amid suggestions that he may have had a hand in his poisoning.

Mario Scaramella was under police guard in a safe house after returning to London from Rome for tests to determine whether he was contaminated by the same radioactive polonium 210 that was found in Litvinenko's body.

The Italian academic met Litvinenko at a central London sushi bar on November 1. Litvinenko fell ill soon afterwards and died on November 23 and, according to one of his friends, believed Scaramella may have been responsible.

"When I talked to Alexander around 12 November about who poisoned him, we were talking only about the Italian guy Mario," Yuri Felshtinsky, co-author of Litvinenko's book Blowing Up Russia: The Terror From Within told The Sun newspaper.

"He was sure at this time it was Mario. He was telling me that he was in a scheme," the newspaper quoted him as saying. Mr Scaramella has denied any involvement in the poisoning and said the meeting was to discuss an alleged Russian secret services "hit list" on which both their names featured. - more

If Professor Mario did it, the irony is interesting: A guy who has you on his hit list asks to meet you to discuss the fact that you are on a hit list. Then he poisons you to death. Deception sucks. Sometimes it even kills.