Suspicious poisoning investigated (Putin critic in Serious condition)

18 November 2006

Scotland Yard is investigating a suspicious poisoning in London - amid claims of an attempt to murder a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Three newspapers suggest a former KGB colonel, Alexander Litvinenko, was poisoned with the metal, thallium, at a sushi bar in the capital.

Officers from the Specialist Crime Directorate are investigating.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the alleged victim was in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6162562.stm

Yushchenko (?sp) was suspected to have been a victim of dioxin poisoning.

who got food poisoning at the same time, eating at a Washington, D.C. restaurant? They were also the only ones who got it.

I did a brief search but didn't come up with anything. It was discussed here. Honk if you remember.

but I would be very interested in hearing the details, post them in a thread if you get them.

From AP story:

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. John Abizaid, the top commander for Iraq, Afghanistan and the entire region, fell ill after dining out near the capital last week.

The pair ate at a local restaurant on Sept. 20 and some hours later both were not feeling well, officials said.

Eikenberry soon recovered, said Lt. Col. John Paradis, a spokesman in Kabul.

But Abizaid felt increasingly sick last Thursday and decided to go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He spent three nights there before being released Sunday morning, Maj. Matthew McLaughlin at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, said Wednesday.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep27/0,4670,GeneralsSick,00.html

And:

Next Time, He'll Try Ted's Salmon

Fans-and there are lots of them-of Ted's Montana Grill might want to try their Bison Burger on the medium-well side next time they visit the restaurant chain started by Ted Turner of CNN fame. Y'all see, Gen.John Abizaid, head of Central Command, had one the same night he fell ill with food poisoning, finishing the night at the hospital during a recent visit to Washington. The Pentagon thinks the burger did it, but the Atlanta-based chain says the fault lies elsewhere.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/061008/16whisplead_2.htm

I wonder if Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry also had criticized Rumsfeld's master plans.

Very interesting. Thank you.

I don't remember much, but I think one of them was hospitalized for 4 or 5 days. The other wasn't bad.

I'm afraid that is all I can remember.

n/t

Mr. Litvinenko met a contact who claimed that she had information about her murder.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/19/npoison19.xml

when he needs to have people eliminated.

Did Bush really see a fellow-traveller when he looked into Putin's eyes?

LONDON - A former Russian spy poisoned in Britain and now hospitalized under guard may have been targeted for his criticism of former colleagues and his investigation into the killing of a prominent anti-Kremlin journalist, friends and fellow dissidents said Sunday.

Col. Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, said earlier this week that he fell ill on Nov. 1 following a meal with a contact who claimed to have details about the slaying of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist gunned down last month in Moscow.

A doctor treating Litvinenko told the British Broadcasting Corp. that tests showed he was the victim of poisoning by thallium — a toxic metal found in rat poison. He is under armed guard at University College Hospital in London.

"He's got a prospect of recovering, he has a prospect of dying," said Dr. John Henry, a clinical toxicologist who treated Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in 2004 after he was poisoned during his presidential election campaign. Henry said thallium can cause damage to the nervous system and organ failure, and that just one gram can be lethal.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_re_eu/britain_russian_spy

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20871739.htm