Poisoned former Russian spy critical

Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko - poisoned in London three weeks ago - is critically ill in intensive care after his condition sharply deteriorated, the hospital treating him said yesterday.

Doctors have now ruled out poisoning by a heavy metal such as thallium or by radiation, said Dr Geoff Bellingan, clinical director of critical care at London's University College Hospital.

"He remains critically ill in intensive care," the hospital said. Doctors said earlier that Mr Litvinenko's condition had worsened markedly during Wednesday night.

"There will be no further statements overnight unless there is a significant change in his condition," the hospital added in its latest bulletin.

The 41-year-old critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he fell ill after meeting two Russians at a hotel.

Britain's anti-terrorism police were called in to investigate the case after doctors determined last week his illness was caused by poison.

Mr Litvinenko's friends accuse the Kremlin of orchestrating a plot to poison him, but Russia has dismissed the allegation as "nonsense".

If Moscow were found to have had a hand in his poisoning there could be far-reaching diplomatic consequences.

It would be the first such incident known to have taken place in the West since the Cold War. Alexander Goldfarb, a friend of the London-based former agent, told the BBC that Mr Litvinenko was on life support.

"He is heavily sedated and he is on a ventilator because overnight he went into heart failure... although the doctor who spoke to his wife and to me said his heart is not damaged. It is beating normally," he said.

Dr Bellingan told reporters shadows seen on Mr Litvinenko's x-rays were believed to be caused by a chemical given as part of his treatment, not by poison, and therefore did not offer clues as to how he fell ill.

Mr Litvinenko, now a British citizen, co-authored a book in 2002 entitled Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within, in which he alleged Federal Security Service (FSB) agents coordinated apartment block bombings in Russia that killed more than 300 people in 1999. Officials blamed the bombings on Chechen rebels.

He had been investigating the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, also a vocal critic of Mr Putin, who was gunned down at her Moscow flat on October 7.