Spy's contact: I was poisoned for secrets swap

Meanwhile, British health officials said on Saturday they had checked an area of top soccer club Arsenal's London stadium for radiation, but had found no risk to public health.

Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer who also met Litvinenko on Nov. 1, told British newspapers he travelled to London on Oct. 31 with his wife and three children to watch CSKA Moscow play Arsenal in a Champions League game on Nov. 1.

Lugovoi told London’s Times newspaperlast week Litvinenko had asked to see him to discuss a business opportunity and said he had nothing to do with any attempt on Litvinenko's life.

British authorities said this week that traces of radiation had been found at 12 sites and aboard planes that carried 33,000 passengers in the past month.

An 'all clear'
Britain's Health Protection Agency gave the "all clear" to two easyJet planes Scaramella flew on as well as three British Airways planes linked to the Litvinenko case.

Also on Saturday, British Airways said three jetliners grounded by investigators looking into Litvinenko’s death had been cleared to resume service. Small traces of radioactive substances had been found on the planes, which traveled between Moscow and London since the former spy turned Kremlin critic was poisoned.

“They have all been cleared and they will be back in service in the next few days,” said a BA spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

Britain’s Health Protection Agency said though low levels of polonium 210 were found on two of the planes, there was no risk to passengers.

Another airline, easyJet, said Scaramella had flown with them to London from Naples on Oct. 31 and returned on Nov. 3, two days after his meeting with 43-year-old Litvinenko. The HPA said there was no risk to the public from those flights.

Ex-PM tests negative for radiation poisoning
In Ireland, meanwhile, officials said tests on former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar were negative for radiation poisoning.

“Testing for radioactive poisoning came out negative,” said Rosaleen Harlin of Ireland’s health executive.

Gaidar, now a leader of Russia’s opposition, became violently ill during a conference in Dublin last week in what his aides have described as another poisoning. He is now being treated at a hospital in Moscow, where his condition has been described as improving.

No radiation was found at sites in Ireland visited by Gaidar, officials said on Saturday.

Three pathologists on Friday completed Litvinenko’s autopsy at the Royal London Hospital, coroner Dr. Andrew Reid said. Results of the autopsy may not be available for several days.

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