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Gaidar, right, oversaw Russia's transformation to a market economy
A top Russian politician was given deadly poison just 24 hours after ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko was killed by radiation.

Yegor Gaidar, a pro-Western former Prime Minister, fell dangerously ill while attending a meeting in Ireland.

Mr Gaidar, 50, was rushed to hospital after he vomited blood and lapsed into a coma during the event in County Kildare.

Last night Scotland Yard was searching for any links between the murder of Mr Litvinenko and the poisoning of Mr Gaidar.

One connection between the two men is Andrei Lugovoy, who met Mr Litvinenko in the Millennium Hotel in London's Mayfair on the day he was poisoned.

Ex-KGB major Lugovoy was once Mr Gaidar's head of security but denies any involvement in the Litvinenko poisoning.

Mr Gaidar, a political opponent of President Putin, recovered slightly after collapsing last Friday and is now in a Moscow hospital. His spokesman said:

"According to preliminary information from doctors, they do not see at the moment a natural reason for the poisoning. They think it is a substance they cannot so far identify - it is not a natural poisoning by spoilt food."

Russian doctors are requesting information from the Irish medics who treated Mr Gaidar.

Mr Gaidar, first Prime Minister of the new Russia after the fall of the USSR, was answering questions on one of his books when he suddenly left the podium last Friday. He was found in agony on the floor, vomiting blood.

Mr Putin called Mr Gaidar to wish him a speedy recovery.

Alexander Shokhin, the head of a major business lobby in Moscow, said: "It's obvious he was poisoned. The fact that doctors cannot find out what he was poisoned with only shows that it was a well-planned operation."

Anatoli Chubais, a senior Russian political figure, linked the shooting dead of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, 48, in Moscow in October to the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko.

"Yegor Gaidar was on the verge of death on November 24," said Mr Chubais, who was a minister in Mr Gaidar's government and is now head of the Russian electricity monopoly. The deadly triangle - Politkovskaya, Litvinenko and Gaidar - would have been very desirable for some people who are seeking an unconstitutional and forceful change of power in Russia."

He implied that Mr Putin's enemies had targeted all three with a view to the President being blamed for seeking to kill his foes.


Comment: Which is precisely what happened.


The number of sites contaminated with polonium-210 radiation increased yesterday and is likely to rise again, said Home Secretary John Reid.

He revealed that two Russian aircraft have been caught up in the scare, though one was quickly given a clean bill of health.

Two British Airways jets with traces of radiation were identified on Wednesday but the levels are so low, the risk to innocent passengers is minimal. A third BA Boeing 767 is still grounded at Moscow, awaiting checks.

The presence of polonium-210 traces on the two BA jets suggests the death squad armed with the radiation flew from Moscow to Heathrow and may have returned the same way. Mr Reid told MPs that the number of locations in London found to have been contaminated with radiation had doubled to "around 12".

He added: "To date, around 24 venues have or are being monitored and experts have confirmed traces of contamination at around 12 of these venues.

"Police continue to trace possible witnesses and examine Mr Litvinenko's movements at relevant times. It is probable that the investigation will continue to bring additional locations to our attention for screening."

BA said last night it had spoken to 5,500 of the 33,000 passengers who travelled on the 221 flights involving its three jets.

The website dealing with the emergency had taken 60,000 hits by yesterday. More than 3,000 air and cabin crew as well as ground staff are being contacted.

The inquest into Mr Litvinenko's death was opened and adjourned in London yesterday.

Police are probing the possibility that a member of the death squad stayed at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Park Lane. Traces of polonium-210 were found there but Mr Litvinenko did not visit it on November 1, the day he was poisoned.