Russia-Belarus gas deal reached
By Gary James,WNS Russia Bureau Chief
MOSCOW - Russia and Belarus have reached a deal on gas supplies after Moscow threatened to cut supplies to its neighbour if a big price rise was not agreed. This came after last-ditch talks in Moscow ahead of a deadline. Describing it as "unfortunate terms", Belarus said it would pay $100 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas, below the $105 demanded by Russia. Russia had threatened to halt supplies at 1000 (0700GMT) on Monday unless Belarus more than doubled its payments.
"The Belarussian side, in a difficult atmosphere on the eve of the new year, signed an agreement on unfortunate terms," Belarussian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said the deal was done at 2358 (2058GMT), adding that Belarus had been offered "the best conditions". Both nations have accused each other of blackmail over the dispute. About 20% of Russian gas exports to Europe pass through Belarus, the remainder through Ukraine. Belarus had threatened to disrupt Russian gas supplies to Western Europe. It echoes a fierce row last year between Russia and Ukraine, and comes as Russia is pushing up prices for many of its customers. Russia has been accused of using its energy muscle to re-impose its will on what is sometimes called Russia's "near abroad" - the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. Although some of the targeted countries, such as Ukraine and Georgia, have strained relations with the Kremlin, Belarus has historically remained an ally throughout the post-Soviet period. Gazprom insists the planned rise from $47 to $105 merely reflected market prices.
However, as has been the case with Belarus, the price rises are often coupled to demands for shared ownership of those countries' gas or oil distribution networks. A half-share in Belarus' gas monopoly Beltransgaz, which operates its own pipelines and Gazprom's export pipeline, is up for grabs - but only, says the government in Minsk, if the price of gas stays lower. European Union countries in particular were keen to avoid a repeat of the gas shortages which accompanied the Russia-Ukraine dispute. At that time, Gazprom accused Ukraine of siphoning off gas meant for Europe, and has also warned Belarus against doing the same thing.
'Car bomb' blasts Madrid airport
By Kelly Paul,WNS Spain Correspondent
MADRID - A powerful explosion apparently caused by a car bomb caused extensive damage to Spain's busiest airport Saturday, an airport official said, but there were no reports of casualties. The parking lot explosion followed a warning to police, who were able to evacuate part of Madrid's Barajas International Airport. It was not clear who gave the warning. Police received the warning at 8:15 a.m., telling them the bomb would detonate in 45 minutes, the official said. Terminal four, which serves Iberia Airlines and its partners, has been closed, although the airports three other terminals are still operating, the official said. Witnesses described a huge column of smoke billowing out from the scene of the blast.
Spanish state radio reported that a caller claiming to be a member of ETA said the group had planted a bomb, Reuters reported. In March 2004, 191 people were killed by bomb attacks on Madrid commuter trains. The attacks, blamed on al-Qaeda-linked militants, were not preceded by any warning. Barajas airport is Spain's busiest, handling more than 40 million passengers a year, according to the airport's official Web site.
Britain says Saddam 'held to account'
By Paula White,WNS UK Senior CorrespondentLONDON - Britain said Saddam Hussein had been "held to account" but reiterated its opposition to the use of the death penalty following the execution of the former Iraqi dictator on Saturday. "I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people," said Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. "He has now been held to account," she said in a statement. Saddam, 69, was hung to death on Saturday in Baghdad for crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 men and boys in the Shiite village of Dujail in 1982 after an attempt was made there to assassinate him. A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street office told AFP that Beckett "spoke for the whole government" and Blair would reflect her comments. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said they would be keeping a "mindful eye" on a potential backlash against Britain's 7,100 troops stationed in southern Iraq around the second city of Basra in the wake of the execution. Britain was the United States' staunchest ally in the invasion of Iraq it led in March 2003, which led to the toppling of Saddam. Beckett said: "The British government does not support the use of the death penalty, in Iraq or anywhere else. We advocate an end to the death penalty worldwide, regardless of the individual or the crime. "We have made our position very clear to the Iraqi authorities, but we respect their decision as that of a sovereign nation. "Iraq continues to face huge challenges. But now it has a democratically-elected government which represents all communities and is committed to fostering reconciliation. "We will continue to work with this government and with the Iraqi people to build security and prosperity for the future." The MoD said it had not put any specific precautions in place in preparation for action against British soldiers but said security would be monitored. "We will be keeping a mindful eye on any goings-on in Iraq," said a spokesman.
Tensions rise in Belarus gas row
By Gary James,WNS Russia Bureau Chief
MOSCOW - Belarus and Russia have traded accusations of "blackmail" in their dispute over gas prices. Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom wants to raise the price Belarus pays by 123%, threatening a cut-off at 0700 GMT on New Year's Day. While negotiations continue in Moscow, however, Belarus Prime Minister Alexander Lukashenko has said he will not agree to the price rise. The stand-off could see a reduction in supplies to Europe. It echoes a fierce row last year between Russia and Ukraine, and comes as Russia is pushing up prices for many of its customers. "Belarus won't bow to Gazprom's blackmail," Mr Lukashenko said, according to Belarus state news agency BeITA. "If they keep putting pressure on us we will go down into the bunkers, but we will not surrender." Earlier on Friday, Gazprom vice-president Alexander Medvedev was quoted by France's Le Figaro newspaper as calling Belarus's tactics of warning of shortages in Europe a "grotesque blackmail".
Russia has been accused of using its energy muscle to reimpose its will on what is sometimes called Russia's "near abroad" - the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. Although some of the targeted countries, such as Ukraine and Georgia, have strained relations with the Kremlin, Belarus has historically remained an ally throughout the post-Soviet period. Gazprom insists the planned rise from $47 to $105 merely reflects market prices.
However, as has been the case with Belarus, the price rises are often coupled to demands for shared ownership of those countries' gas or oil distribution networks. A half-share in Belarus' gas monopoly Beltransgaz, which operates its own pipelines and Gazprom's export pipeline, is up for grabs - but only, says the government in Minsk, if the price of gas stays lower. Russia's gas customers, meanwhile, are urging that a deal be struck as soon as possible. Europe, in particular - which gets about 5% of its supplies via Belarus, accounting for a fifth of the country's exports - is keen to avoid a repeat of the gas shortages which accompanied the Russia-Ukraine dispute. At that time, Gazprom accused Ukraine of siphoning off gas meant for Europe, and is now warning Belarus against doing the same thing.
Rogue passenger forces Russian jet into emergency landing
By Lucy Andy,WNS Czech Rep Correspondent
PRAGUE - A Russian Aeroflot airliner on a Moscow-Geneva flight has made an emergency landing in Prague after a passenger threatened to blow it up. Czech police called the incident an attempted hijacking but Russian media reports quoted officials as saying the passenger was drunk. Other passengers and police overcame the attacker, Czech national police chief, Vladislav Husak, told reporters Thursday. The Airbus A-320 jet was surrounded in an isolated corner of Prague-Ruzyne airport while security officials decided whether to let the flight continue. Czech reports said there were 170 people on the plane.
"Today, on flight 271 Moscow-Geneva, one of the passengers on the flight declared that he had an explosive device," Lev Koshlyakov, Aeroflot's deputy chief executive, said in comments broadcast on Russian state television. "The crew, in accordance with the current rules, asked to make an emergency landing in Prague and landed at Prague airport. Local law enforcement apprehended the passenger," Koshlyakov said. "The preliminary version is that this was a case of hooliganism," said Koshlyakov, adding that the passenger was a Russian who had been behaving "inappropriately."
Russian news agencies quoted officials as saying the passenger was drunk. An Aeroflot spokeswoman, Irina Dannenberg, earlier told AFP that there had been an "attempted assault" against the crew on the plane, but refused to give further details. The Czech police chief said an alert was raised after an attempted hijacking was reported by the crew.
Belarus-Russia gas dispute threatens Poland, Europe
By Samuel Donkin,
WNS Poland Correspondent
WARSAW - The dispute between Belarus and Moscow over natural gas prices threatens the energy security of Poland and the rest of Europe, an official at the Polish foreign ministry has said. "This problem poses a threat to us and this is why we have had heated debate in the past few months about Polish-Russian relations and relations between Europe and Russia," Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Kowal said Wednesday. "Energy security today is a fundamental issue for Poland and we want to convince the rest of the world that it is also fundamental to Europe. This example is yet another illustration," he said.
Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom wants Belarus to pay more than double the current price it pays for natural gas from 2007 and has threatened to cut supplies from Monday if no deal is reached. Minsk said on Wednesday that Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe could be threatened if Russian group Gazprom were to cut gas to Belarus next week over a dispute about prices. About 20 percent of Russian gas supplies to Europe pass through Belarus. Kowal said that Poland had sufficient gas reserves of its own and would also be able to count on supplies via Ukraine "so we should not have any worries in the short term".
He also said: "But if such a situation should become reality, and if it lasted, it would be a threat." The row between Minsk and Moscow is a reminder of what happened on January 1 last year, when Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine after Kiev had rejected a four-fold price increase. That disruption, although brief, was felt throughout much of Europe, which was caught last year in the grip of one of the coldest winters on record. About 80 percent of the Russian gas piped to Europe passes through Ukraine. Official EU data indicates that the 25-nation bloc relies on Russia for more than 40 percent of its imported gas and more than 30 percent of the oil it imports.
Pope urges Mid-East peace efforts
By Pamela Quest,
WNS Vatican Correspondent
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has called for fresh efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and Africa, in his traditional Christmas message to pilgrims in Rome. The Pope spoke of the "many grave crises and conflicts" in the Middle East and voiced "hope that the way will be opened to a just and lasting peace". He also deplored the conflicts in Darfur and other parts of Africa. He lamented the many deaths from hunger and disease around the world in "an age of unbridled consumerism".
The Pope noted man's scientific advances in the modern age, but added that in the 21st Century "perhaps he needs a saviour all the more" because so much of humanity was still suffering. His "Urbi et Orbi" speech was delivered from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is his second Christmas as pontiff. The Pope contrasted scientific breakthroughs such as the internet and decoding of the human genome with what he called the "heart-rending cry" for help from those dying of hunger, thirst, disease and poverty. Some people remain enslaved, others are victims of religious or racial hatred, he noted. The threats to the individual's personal and moral integrity had become more insidious in the modern age, the Pope said. His earlier Midnight Mass sermon focused on the plight of suffering children. He singled out those forced to fight as child soldiers, to beg and those "who suffer deprivation and hunger" and "children who are unloved".
The Middle East turmoil was a central theme of the Pope's Christmas message. "I place in the hands of the divine Child of Bethlehem the indications of a resumption of dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which we have witnessed in recent days, and the hope of further encouraging developments," he said. He also issued an "appeal to all those who hold in their hands the fate of Iraq, that there will be an end to the brutal violence that has brought so much bloodshed to the country". His message was broadcast live on television to more than 40 countries. He said he would like to visit the Holy Land as soon as circumstances permit.
Sofia turns out Christmas lights in protest for death row nurses
By Ian Nathan,WNS Bulgaria Correspondent
SOFIA - Sofia turned off its Christmas lights on Sunday in a show of solidarity for five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya along with a Palestinian doctor. Floodlights on the parliament and presidency buildings were cut for five minutes, plunging the Bulgarian capital's landmarks into black, and Christmas lights were switched off in the city. The gesture, initiated by Sofia's mayor Boiko Borissov, was mirrored in several cities across the country. In Dobrich, in the northeast, the decorations shut down for an hour, national radio reported.
The names of the five nurses were read out at Orthodox Christian Christmas eve masses. Presenters on Bulgaria's bTV wore ribbons on their jackets with the slogan "You are not alone" which have become popular signs of solidarity among the Bulgarian population. The channel read out messages of solidarity to the five from thousands sent by viewers during the past 24 hours.
The six foreign medics were condemned to death by firing squad for the second time on Tuesday on charges of having "knowingly" infected with AIDS over 400 Libyan children in the Al Fateh hospital in Benghazi where they worked. The defendants maintain their innocence on the basis of testimony by international health experts who said the outbreak occurred long before the arrival of the foreigners at the hospital and was caused by poor hygiene.
Flights get back to normal at Heathrow
By Suzie Decker,WNS London Correspondent
LONDON - British Airways said it planned to operate a full schedule from London's Heathrow Airport Sunday, after days of severe disruption caused by lingering freezing fog. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, said almost 95 percent of flights operated Saturday, after the fog finally lifted.
Mark Bullock, Heathrow managing director for airport operator BAA, said, "We can expect to see normal services resume by the end of today." BA, the airport's biggest operator, was using bigger planes on some routes and running buses to domestic destinations to help clear the backlog at Heathrow, where hundreds of flights were canceled this week amid the busy pre-Christmas travel season. Heathrow said 74 of 1,300 scheduled flights were canceled Saturday, just over 5 percent of the total.
The fog set in on Tuesday, forcing thousands of passengers to camp out in chilly airport terminals -- some for several days -- while waiting to rebook a flight. Many others gave up on flying and used buses, trains or ships to reach their destinations in Britain or European cities such as Paris or Brussels. Airlines including BA continued to operate many of their long-haul flights during the fog, which seriously reduced the visibility of pilots and forced longer gaps between takeoffs and landings. Some rail travelers faced more delays Sunday, as conductors on the Central Trains franchise in central England walked out in a 24-hour strike over holiday pay.
Thousands hit by air travel chaos
By Suzie Decker,WNS London Correspondent
LONDON - Thick fog is causing havoc for Christmas travelers in Britain for a third day, with hundreds of flights cancelled at airports. Some 350 flights were affected at Heathrow -- Europe's busiest airport -- including all British Airways' domestic flights. But BA announced Friday afternoon that it planned to start operating domestic services in and out of the airport from midday on Saturday following a gap of three days. Flights from Heathrow to Paris and Brussels would resume on Sunday, the airline said.
Geoff Want, BA's director of ground operations, said: "We are hopeful that the weather will improve slightly over the weekend and therefore we can get back to operating a full planned Christmas Eve schedule."We are drafting in extra staff from across the airline over the weekend to ensure that customers get to their final destinations before Christmas Day." Britain's Meteorological Office said the fog around the airport would finally begin to lift on Saturday morning. Spokesman Keith Fenwick said: "While it may remain gray and misty, the key factor -- visibility -- should improve considerably."
BA was operating all long-haul services in and out of Heathrow on Friday, but some departing passengers were expected to face delays of several hours. It said it hoped to operate 95 percent of services from the airport on Saturday, including 87 percent of short-haul flights, followed by a full schedule on Sunday. An airline spokesman said it was offering customers "the three Rs -- rebooking, rerouting and refunds." Heathrow's second-busiest airline, bmi, had scrapped eight flights by early Friday morning on top of 40 cancellations Thursday. The chaos was expected to continue at other British airports, with Gatwick, Norwich, Southampton and Coventry among those predicting further delays.
A spokesman for airport operator BAA, which runs Heathrow and six other British airports, said although it is the world's busiest international airport, it has only two runways. "We have fundamental capacity constraints," he added. He said BAA was providing a range of amenities for stranded passengers, including heated marquees outside terminals at Heathrow, with blankets and ponchos, sleeping mats, children's packs and food and drink. BA also had buses to take as many as 3,000 people north from Heathrow to cities such as Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, where flights were going ahead as normal. Heathrow would normally have handled around 190,000 passengers on Friday, but that figure is likely to come down to around 150,000.
Prostitute murders: Man in court
By Janet Tim,WNS UK Correspondent
IPSWICH - A 48-year-old man has appeared in court in England on Friday to face charges that he murdered five prostitutes. Steve Wright was remanded in custody to appear before Ipswich Crown Court on January 2. The former forklift truck driver was driven to the court in Ipswich in a police van, which was escorted to the building by motorcycle escorts. Dozens of photographers were gathered behind crowd control barriers, trying to get pictures of Wright, who is charged with the murders of Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29. He was charged on Thursday night after being arrested at his home near Ipswich's red light district on Tuesday morning. A second suspect, identified locally as Tom Stephens, 37, was released on bail.
Wright was dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt and blue striped tie for his court appearance. The court clerk outlined the murder charges and told the magistrates that the killings were alleged to have taken place between various dates in early December. She listed the names of the prostitutes and said Wright was accused of the murder of each one. Wright stood to confirm his personal details but was told he could sit throughout the rest of the hearing. Police arrested Wright at 5 a.m. Tuesday at his Ipswich home, said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull. Wright's arrest came a day after police arrested Stephens, also on suspicion of murdering the five women.
The bodies of five women were discovered outside Ipswich in Suffolk county in a period of 10 days. A coroner has opened and adjourned inquests into the deaths. He appealed for anyone with information about the murders to contact the police. Forensic officers and search teams have been searching homes of both suspects and police cordoned off part of a road where Wright lives. The short time span of the murders is unprecedented in recent British history and threatened to overwhelm the small local police force in the early days of the inquiry. Wright's solicitor, Paul Osler, told the UK's Press Association prior to the hearing: "He is bearing up well. "Of course anybody accused of these sorts of offences is going to experience trauma, but he is bearing up well. "I would remind everybody about the presumption of innocence."
EU fish quota deal hammered out
By Jerome Hart,WNS EU Correspondent
LONDON - European Union ministers have reached a deal to regulate permitted fish catches in 2007, aimed at stimulating the recovery of depleted stocks. During late-night talks, the ministers agreed a series of concessions offered by the European Commission, including a 14% cut in the North Sea cod catch. Cod will also be further protected by a cut in the days vessels spend at sea. Scientists say stocks will only recover if there is a total ban on cod fishing, but politicians ruled this out. EU Fisheries Minister Joe Borg said the Commission was trying to balance the need to rebuild depleted fish stocks with the needs of those whose livelihoods depend on fishing. "The result was a proposal that has been severely criticised by all sides for being too drastic for some and too weak for others.
"Yet despite the difficulties I believe that the agreement reached tonight reinforces our gradual but sustained approach to delivering sustainable fisheries," he said. He confirmed that cod catches will be cut by 20% in the west of Scotland and Celtic Sea, and by 15% for other stocks, except the North Sea where it will be cut by 14%. The number of days cod fishermen spend at sea was reduced by 7-10% - the current maximum is about 15 days a month, depending the type of fishing gear used and the exact fishing ground. The Commission originally recommended a 25% cut in days at sea. A revised proposal of a 12% cut was also rejected.
The UK argued that the deal should take into account the 65% reduction in effort put into catching cod British fishermen have made over the last four years. UK Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw said the UK accepted there had to be further reductions in the cod catch, and that the stock was still in very poor shape, but he added that more cod had been born in 2005 than in any year since 1996. "The agreement builds on the considerable cuts in cod catches already made in recent years. "The impact on our fishing fleet will be more than compensated for by big increases in catches allowed for prawns, haddock, mackerel and monkfish - each of which is already more valuable than cod to our fishermen," he said.
Fog disrupts flights at London's Heathrow Airport
By Suzie Decker,WNS London Correspondent
LONDON - Flights to London Heathrow Airport were to remain severely disrupted by fog on Thursday, with many domestic flights and short-haul flights scrapped and international services subject to delay. Due to expected severe fog, British Airways cancelled all its domestic flights in and out of the world's busiest international passenger airport for Thursday. Several of its European services were also scrapped. BA's long-haul flights were operating with a delay on Wednesday, while Lufthansa and Alitalia flights were the next worst affected as fog restricted the flight slots.
"British Airways has so far cancelled around 180 short-haul and domestic flights to and from London Heathrow on Thursday, out of a normal daily total of 400 short-haul flights," the flag carrier said in a statement. "The fog is likely to remain over southeast England for the next 48 hours and will also impact British Airways' operations at London Gatwick," BA warned. Air Traffic Control significantly reduced the number of flights that can land and take-off each hour at Heathrow for Thursday. "At this stage it is anticipated that the airport will only be able to manage around 50 percent of the normal landings and take-off rates," BA explained. Customers were advised to check with their airline before travelling. Wednesday's short-haul and European services from Heathrow suffered significant disruption. "There have been 223 cancellations out of the 1,300 flights we operate per day," a Heathrow spokesman told AFP, adding that the vast majority of the affected flights were domestic.
Eighteen short-haul flights were cancelled on Wednesday at London Gatwick, Britain's second biggest airport, while some flights in and out of Liverpool were scrapped and some Cardiff-bound planes were delayed or diverted to Bristol. The fog enveloping parts of Britain has also disrupted ferry services with Ireland and forced the postponement of Tuesday's League Cup quarter-final football match between Liverpool and Arsenal.
British police grill second suspect over prostitute murders
By Janet Tim,WNS UK Correspondent
IPSWICH - Police have arrested a second suspect over the murder of five prostitutes whose naked corpses were dumped around the quiet Suffolk town, gripped by fear of a serial killer. The 48-year-old man was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on the edge of the red light district of Ipswich, less than 24 hours after a first suspect, a local supermarket worker, was arrested in a village a few miles away. "He has been arrested on suspicion of murdering all five women," said Suffolk Police Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull of the new suspect, who reportedly lived in a bedsit in a run-down street near the centre of town.
Both suspects were taken to police stations where they were questioned about the murders of five sex workers whose bodies were found within 10 days earlier this month. The murder victims were Ipswich prostitutes Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, 24-year-olds Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell, and 29-year-old Annette Nicholls. Alderton was strangled and Clennell died of compression to the neck. "The man is currently in custody at a police station in Suffolk where he will be questioned about the deaths later today," Gull said of the new arrest, adding that police would not say where exactly the man was being held. The second suspect was arrested near the red light district near Ipwsich Town Football Club's Portman Road ground in the town centre. The nearby residential London Road was cordoned off by police officers in high-visibility jackets, while forensics experts in full-length white body suits could be seen coming and going. A large white tent was erected at number 79, and a dark blue family car was taken away.
Citing sources, Sky News television said the second suspect lives on his own in a bedsit and was a client of some of the women. Gull meanwhile confirmed that the 37-year-old first suspect who was arrested at his home in the nearby quiet village of Trimley on Monday, remains in custody. Police have refused to identify him, but national media reports name him as local supermarket worker Tom Stephens. Detectives have already been granted an extra 12 hours to grill him, and so have until Friday morning before they must either charge him or release him.
Blair aides investigated for obstructing probe: report
By Andre Jones,WNS UK Political Correspondent
LONDON - Aides of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and officials of his governing Labour Party are under investigation for obstructing the "cash-for-honours" probe, The Times reported. The report comes after Blair last Thursday became the first serving prime minister to have been questioned as part of a criminal inquiry in what critics said was an embarrassment to the British leader.
According to the newspaper, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has told police that they should look into the fact that some e-mails and documents have not yet been handed over, while others have apparently disappeared. "There is more than a suspicion that evidence has not been handed over, people have colluded and the police are not being helped," an unidentified prosecution source told the newspaper. "What these people should remember is that they are not dealing with a parliamentary inquiry; this is a criminal investigation and anyone failing to co-operate is participating in a criminal offence," the source said. According to The Times, the possibility of charges of perverting the course of justice was discussed by CPS lawyers after they met with the police. The charge carries a maximum life sentence.
Police are investigating claims that seats in the House of Lords, the unelected upper house of parliament, were offered in return for financial help to political parties, including Labour since it became the party of government in 1997, in breach of the 1925 Honours (Prevention of Abuse) Act. They are also considering whether there was any breach of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 which requires donations and non-commercial loans to parties to be publicly declared.
Danish police arrests hundreds
By Leonard Brian,
WNS Denmark Correspondent
COPENHAGEN - Police in Denmark have arrested some 300 demonstrators in the capital, after a protest against the closure of a youth centre turned violent. About 1,000 protesters in Copenhagen threw cobblestones, bottles and fireworks and erected barricades. Police used teargas to try to break up the protests, comparing the scene on the streets to that of a "war zone". The protesters are angry about orders for young squatters to leave a building occupied since 1982. Local government sold the centre in 2000 and tension has been building since the sale. "It was extremely violent," police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch said. "It's been many years since we last had to use tear gas on the streets."
On Thursday, the group had held a peaceful demonstration to try to convince the city council to stop the eviction of the building's occupants. Left-wing activists have been using the centre as a base for more than two decades. Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten reported that one demonstrator was unconscious and that two police officers had been taken to hospital.
Key witness denies ex-spy murder
By Gary James,
WNS Russia Bureau Chief
MOSCOW - A Russian witness at the center of an international investigation into the poisoning of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko has denied involvement in the murder and hit back at British media for portraying him as a monster."I have absolutely no connection with the poisoning, had no connection and, I hope, will have no connection to it," Andrei Lugovoi said in a telephone interview late on Thursday from an isolated unit at a Moscow hospital that treated the victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Litvinenko's slow, agonizing death in a London hospital and his deathbed statement accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of the murder have prompted a five-nation police investigation and strained relations between London and Moscow. The Kremlin has dismissed Litvinenko's allegations as "nonsense".
Lugovoi, a former KGB bodyguard for the Kremlin elite, has attracted attention because he was one of two men who met Litvinenko in London on the day Litvinenko fell ill with radiation poisoning. Lugovoi has been staying for at least two weeks at Moscow's Hospital No. 6 under tight security with a second Russian witness who met Litvinenko in London, Dmitry Kovtun. Visiting British detectives have questioned both men.
The hospital has a unit for treating radiation victims but Lugovoi refused to say whether he himself had been contaminated with polonium 210, the substance that led to Litvinenko's death. He said that his health was "normal" and "not in danger", adding: "I have never said anywhere that I was poisoned with polonium.""I have been made into some sort of monster in Britain," he said, adding that he was angry at "wild reports" that he was a suspect in an investigation being made by British detectives. He said he was a witness and he met British and Russian investigators in Moscow without his lawyers.
Europe's leaders ponder EU growth
By Dennis Wanks,WNS Belgium Correspondent
BRUSSELS - European Union leaders are trying to settle on terms to define the future size and shape of the EU. On the second and final day of a summit in Brussels, they are expected to say that future membership hopefuls will face a tougher examination than ever. The leaders are likely to endorse a slowdown in Turkey's application. Reform of European Union institutions and the future of the EU constitution, rejected last year by French and Dutch voters, are also seen as a priority. On enlargement, EU leaders are expected to endorse a compromise that will ease voter concerns in many countries but not close the door to aspiring members. With Romania and Bulgaria joining the EU on 1 January, some Europeans feel the bloc has stretched too far too fast. The compromise is likely to require strict adherence to accession criteria but would not erect any new hurdles for applicants.
EU foreign ministers this week decided to partially suspend accession talks with Turkey because of Ankara's failure to open its sea and air ports to EU-member Cyprus - a decision likely to be endorsed by the heads of government. The tougher EU line will affect such hopefuls for membership as Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia, which is hoping to join as soon as 2009. Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said there was a consensus for reform, but warned against throwing out the EU constitution, pointing out that 18 countries had ratified it. Mr Vanhanen said member states had moved from a period of silent reflection after the French and Dutch rejections of the new constitution to what he called more active thinking. Finland will hand over the presidency of the EU to Germany in January, after which reform and a possible revival of the constitution are expected to be central issues.
EU leaders are also pledging a strategy on migration. The summit has endorsed plans to boost patrols off Spain and Italy as tens of thousands of people continue to try to reach Europe from Africa each year. There will also be laws drafted to allow in skilled African workers and more aid measures to tackle African poverty.
Plea for murdered women's clothes
By Paula White,
WNS UK Senior Correspondent
LONDON - Officers investigating the deaths of five women, all found naked, say they urgently want to find their clothing. Three prostitutes have been murdered and two more suspected victims have been found in woodland near Ipswich. The remains found at Levington in Suffolk are thought to be those of Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls. Officers are trying to establish if a jacket dragged from the River Orwell and a handbag found in Ipswich are significant to their inquiries. They have also said they would like to speak to the driver of a blue BMW car that murdered prostitute from Essex Annelie Alderton was reported as getting into before her body was discovered.
Det Ch Supt Stewart Gull said the force had received a number of calls from the public about clothing found at different locations across Ipswich. "Clearly, we're still looking for confirmed sightings of where the girls were and what they were actually wearing," he said. "So we don't actually know what we've got - but we've seized it and secured it at this time." When asked about the reports of Miss Alderton getting into a blue BMW car he said: "We would like to speak to the man but we're still trying to confirm Annelie's last movements. "We know she caught a train last Sunday in Essex but what was she doing between Sunday and Thursday when she was seen at the scene at Nacton."
One of the bodies found at Levington has been moved to Ipswich Hospital where a post-mortem examination was carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Carey. Officers are expected to move a second body from the woodland after a forensic examination is completed at the scene. Detectives said the victims had not died where their bodies were found. Police have not confirmed that they are linking the deaths with similar cases concerning prostitutes in Norfolk or other parts of the country. Police have linked the murders of Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, and Anneli Alderton, 24, whose bodies were found in nearby villages within 10 days. Det Ch Supt Gull said all five deaths bore "striking similarities" in that the women had been found naked and in a rural environment.
Body removed in murders inquiry
By Paul King,WNS UK Bureau Chief
LONDON - Officers investigating the murder of three prostitutes and the discovery of two more suspected victims have removed one body from woodland near Ipswich. The body has been taken away by Suffolk Police to establish the cause of death and the victim's identity. Police said it was likely the body, found close to another in Levington, is one of two missing prostitutes. Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29, have not been seen for several days. Officers are also checking reports a handbag and clothes had been found in the River Orwell, near Ipswich. A police spokeswoman said: "We are checking to see whether those reports are true and, if they are, to establish the significance of any finds." Detectives said earlier the latest victims - whose bodies were found on Tuesday - had not died at the scenes, and had been dumped in the wooded areas where they were found. The other body is likely to remain at the scene until Thursday. Police have linked the murders of Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, and Anneli Alderton, 24, whose bodies were found in nearby villages within 10 days.
Det Ch Supt Stewart Gull said all five deaths bore "striking similarities" in that the women had been found naked and in a rural environment. A number of people are helping police with their inquiries, but no-one has been arrested. Officers are working through more than 2,000 calls made on Tuesday in what is now the biggest criminal inquiry in Suffolk Police's history. Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Carey, who carried out post-mortems examinations on the three murdered prostitutes, will examine the bodies. A picture of the prostitutes working in the area and their clients was gradually being built up, the officer said.
Despite appeals for the women to keep off the streets, there are some continuing to work through desperation for money to buy drugs and Christmas presents. Home Secretary John Reid and Downing Street have contacted Suffolk's Chief Constable Alastair McWhirter to make sure he has enough resources to deal with the current murder inquiry. The prime minister's spokesman said officials were assured Mr McWhirter was "happy" with the level of resources he had. At Commons question time, the prime minister said there was "entirely understandable fear" in the community in Ipswich and said all MPs would want to send their sympathy to the people of Suffolk and the relatives of the victims.
Airbus given clearance for A380
By Andrew Champion,WNS France Business Correspondent
PARIS - Airbus has announced its double-decker jumbo A380 airliner has been cleared to take passengers by European and American aviation authorities. The aircraft has been granted its Certificate of Airworthiness after 2,600 hours of flight tests. It is an important hurdle in the development of what is currently the world's biggest passenger airliner. But Airbus has had problems making the aircraft, and there are currently delivery delays of up to two years.
The first aircraft will not be delivered to the first customer, Singapore Airlines, until October next year, and other airlines have seen their original delivery dates slip back. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) granted the "type certification" at a ceremony at Airbus's Toulouse headquarters. The US Federal Aviation Administration also gave the European super-jumbo its blessing at the same event in France.
The troubled A380 project has been hit by a number of costly delays. Now running two years late due to wiring problems, Airbus' parent firm EADS said in November that the delays to the project had cost it 1bn euros ($1.3bn) in the three months to the end of September. The problems with the A380 project also led to the departure earlier this year of former Airbus boss Gustav Humbert.
Swedish king crowns Nobel winners
By James Beck,
WNS Sweden Correspondent
STOCKHOLM - Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustav handed gold medals and diplomas to this year's Nobel laureates for literature, economics and the sciences on Sunday, with US winners scooping all but one of the honours. Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was the only non-American on the all-male list of winners at the ceremony in Stockholm, taking the literature prize. The prize for chemistry went to Roger Kornberg of the US. He attended his first Nobel ceremony in 1959, aged 12, when his father Arthur received the Nobel prize for medicine. Arthur Kornberg duly accompanied his son at Sunday's prize-giving.
John Mather and George Smoot shared the prize for physics for their work on the origins of the universe, while the medicine award was also shared, this time by the geneticists Andrew Fire and George Mello. The other US laureate was Edmund Phelps, who received the Nobel Prize for Economics for his research on inflation and growth. As well as the medals and diplomas handed over by the king, each prize bears a cheque worth 1.1 million euros (US$1.45 million), which is split in the case of joint winners.
Earlier on Sunday, the pioneering Bangladeshi micro-credit banker Muhammad Yunus received the Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, where the Norwegian Nobel Committee which allocates that prize is based. The award ceremonies are held on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the scientist and industrialist who set up the prizes in his will. The Stockholm ceremony was due to be followed by a gala dinner and ball in the town hall, attended by members of the royal family and the Swedish government.
Second Russian hospital fire kills nine
By Gary James,WNS Russia Bureau Chief
MOSCOW - Up to nine people have been killed in a fire in a clinic in Siberia, Russia's second lethal hospital blaze of the weekend, Russian news agencies reported. The fire killed nine and injured 15 more, local emergency ministry officials said as quoted by ITAR-TASS. "The fire started in the psycho-neurological clinic in the town of Taiga" in the southern region of Kemerovo, an emergency ministry spokesman was quoted by Interfax as saying. First preliminary results put the toll at eight, though the region's governor Aman Tuleyev later said that the fire killed seven and injured 11. Of the total 223 patients that were at the site, "search is still on for 10.
Firefighters said there was no one else in the building, so they are not among the dead, maybe they left to see their families for the weekend," the governor was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying. Flames consumed more than 1,200 square meters of the roof (1,435 square yards) and 600 square meters of the second floor in the two-story brick house, officials said, adding that the fire was already under control.
Earlier, officials said that at the time of the fire, 235 people were in the building, including 15 staff. The building, located some 11 kilometres (seven miles) away from Taiga, was constructed during the second World War, Tuleyev said, adding however that it was fully renovated two years ago and was thoroughly checked for safety measures this year. Investigators did not exclude arson as the fire's cause, officials said. The incident followed a fire which swept through a Moscow drug rehabilitation clinic early Saturday, killing 45 women in a suspected arson attack.
German police suspect radioactivity source at Hamburg flat
By Suzie Gorani,WNS Berlin Correspondent
BERLIN - Germany police have said they had found "indications" of a source of radioactivity in a flat in Hamburg used by Dmitry Kovtun, a contact of the poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Police discovered "indications leading us to believe that there has been a source of radioactivity" in the flat, a police spokesman said. He said Saturday there "no danger" to other residents of the building. Police began searching the flat on Friday for traces of the radioactive substance polonium 210.
Investigators believe Kovtun, a 41-year-old businessman, could have been in contact with the highly radioactive substance which killed Litvinenko on November 23. Kovtun, one of three Russians who met Litvinenko in London on November 1, shortly before the former intelligence agent fell ill, was reported Friday to be suffering from radiation sickness. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed medical official in Moscow as saying that Kovtun had briefly fallen into a coma Thursday but had since recovered consciousness.
The death of Litvinenko from polonium poisoning, which British authorities are treating as murder, has prompted a media outcry, heightened by allegations from the dead agent's friends that he was killed on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hamburg police appealed to "people who had any contact" with Kovtun to come forward. A special telephone number was available for concerned members of the public to call.
EU nations in prolonged talks on Turkish initiative
By Dennis Wanks,WNS Belgium Correspondent
BRUSSELS - Turkey's offer to ease its trade dispute with Cyprus is insufficient to stop the European Union discussing a freeze on Ankara's membership talks, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has said. "What Turkey has said is not enough and of course the Union will make the decision how to continue the negotiation process with Turkey," Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU presidency, told Brussels-based reporters via video link Fridy. Progress in Turkey's EU talks has been threatened by its refusal to open its harbours and airports to Greek Cypriot craft. On Thursday it offered to open one port and possibly an airport, but there was confusion over whether there were strings attached.
Vanhanen delivered his verdict after ambassadors of the 25 EU member states ended talks here Friday without agreement on Turkey's offer, national officials said. "Several members wanted the offer written down," said an EU source. The Turkish proposal involved opening a Mediterranean port to vessels from EU member Cyprus, and possibly an airport, for a trial period of one year. A senior Turkish official said Ankara would expect a solution to the 32-year division of the island of Cyprus during that 12-month period. Confusion reigned over whether such comments amounted to pre-conditions for the Turkish offer. Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, in Brussels for separate meetings, said there was no "conditionality" attached to the Turkish proposal.
However he failed to clear up the confusion. "It is a package in order to promote cooperation and to promote common understanding and by that way resolving the resolution of the Cyprus problem," he told reporters as the talks were underway. "The real question is to know to what extent it's completely or partially conditional," said one European source. "The Turks have made this proposition, as usual, behind a great smokescreen. Now we have to clear the fog." The fog will have to be cleared quickly as the 25 EU foreign ministers will meet here on Monday with Turkey high on the agenda. Turkey's EU candidacy has divided members states and their representatives had struggled to reach a common position even before the latest move by Ankara.
Britain most at risk from Al-Qaeda attack: report
By Tarry Ben,WNS UK Correspondent
LONDON - Britain is the Western country most at risk to suffer a terrorist attack at the hands of the Al-Qaeda terror network, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed government officials. The newspaper also said that the terror group was rebuilding its headquarters' operations in Pakistan, making Britain particularly vulnerable because of the large number of British residents who travel to the South Asian country on a regular basis. "It's an emerging pattern. Training is taking place in Pakistan and contacts are continuing after the training," one unnamed official told the FT. The conclusions have been reached on examination of past plots and various other evidence. Another unidentified official told the newspaper: "We are seeing an increase slowly in the level of sophistication of Al-Qaeda directed or inspired attacks."
The officials said that Dhiren Barot, a British Muslim convert who was jailed for life last month for plotting to kill thousands of people in devastating terror attacks in Britain and the United States, was directed by Al-Qaeda. They also said that two of the four Islamist suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters on London's transport network in July 2005, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, are thought to have visited terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Though the United States remains Al-Qaeda's top target, Britain is an easier mark, the officials told the FT. "We are talking about risk: risk is made up of a combination of threat and vulnerability ... If the threat is big, but you are not vulnerable, there is a low risk," an official told the business daily. "But if the threat is high and vulnerability is high, then you are in trouble."
Seselj 'could die within weeks'
By Sam Mackintosh,WNS Europe Bureau ChiefLONDON - Serbian war crimes suspect Vojislav Seselj could die within two weeks if he continues his hunger strike, a doctor has said after examining him. Mr Seselj is on trial in The Hague, accused of driving the ethnic cleansing of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s wars. He denies the charges. The trial has been suspended because of the defendant's ill health, after more than three weeks on hunger strike. "He is very weak," said French doctor Patrick Barriot. "We have huge concerns about his health," the doctor told the Associated Press. "In the coming days we think he could have a cardiac arrest if he continues his hunger strike," he added.
Dr Barriot examined Mr Seselj along with a Serbian and a Russian doctor. Mr Seselj, 52, has refused to be seen by doctors representing the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal. He launched the hunger strike to back up his demands for unlimited visits from his wife and the right to pick his own defence team. Mr Seselj said he would defend himself, but the court took away that right when he refused to turn up on the first day of the trial. Serbia's ambassador to the Netherlands has called for Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS), to be moved out of his prison hospital in The Hague, and transferred to a hospital in Belgrade.
Thousands of people marched in the Serbian capital at the weekend to support his stance. Radical Party secretary Aleksander Vucic declared: "He's not fighting just for his life...he's fighting for all of us who are gathered here. Vojislav Seselj is fighting for Serbia!" He is accused by the International War Crimes Tribunal of forming a joint criminal enterprise with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, which led to the extermination and deportation of non-Serbs from Bosnia and Croatia.
Danish journalists acquitted over Iraq leak
By Leonard Brian,WNS Denmark Correspondent
COPENHAGEN - Three Danish journalists who published secret intelligence reports on Iraq have been acquitted of endangering national security. The court ruled that Niels Lunde, Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen had acted in the public interest. Their articles said Danish intelligence services knew there was no evidence Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the US-led invasion in 2003. The Danish media had said the case was an important test of press freedom. The prosecution said publication, by the daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende, was not justified by the public's right to know Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) assessments. The DDIS said the leaks undermined its relationships with foreign intelligence organisations.
A former DDIS officer, Frank Grevil, was jailed for four months last year for leaking the report, which was published in 2004. He had written the report before the 2003 invasion, concluding that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. An offence of publishing confidential Danish government documents is punishable by fines or up to two years in prison. After Monday's verdict Mr Lunde, the newspaper's chief editor, flanked by his two journalists, said it was "a great victory for the open society". Judge Peter Lind Larsen said the "considerable public interest" outweighed the government's fears for its intelligence operations.
Goat guarded from festive vandals
By James Beck,WNS Sweden Correspondent
STOCKHOLM - Arsonists who enjoy burning down a festive Swedish straw goat may have met their match this year. In the 40 years since the tradition started, the giant goat of Gavle has often gone up in flames within days. But this year the 13-metre (43ft) high goat has a coat of flame-resistant chemicals, and the authorities are determined it will see in the New Year. "No-one is going to get our goat this year," says a local spokeswoman with confidence. Those who remain concerned can reassure themselves of the goat's wellbeing by watching on the "goatcam".
Just 10 of the goats, which are built in the town's central square, have survived beyond Christmas since 1966. Some have been burnt down within hours of being erected during the first week of December. The culprits are seldom caught. However, a 51-year-old American tourist spent 18 days in jail after being convicted of setting it alight in December 2001.
It is not the first time authorities have put their faith in a flame-proof coating - a substance tried before washed off in the rain. This one is waterproof, says Gavle spokeswoman Anna Oestman, and while its paws could still be singed, a full scale torching would now be "impossible". Goats have a special place in Swedish tradition, and it was a goat which in earlier centuries delivered festive gifts before Santa Claus took over that role.
Litvinenko probe to spread to Europe
By Paula White,WNS UK Senior Correspondent
LONDON - British Home Secretary John Reid has said the probe into the radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko would extend across Europe as police step up the hunt for the truth behind his death. Reid said he was confident that London was getting the necessary assistance from Moscow in the investigation into what happened to the former Russian spy. But as the police probe into Litvinenko's agonising death entered its third week amid reports Britain fears a long-term diplomatic fallout with Russia from the affair, new claims of blackmail and political and financial skullduggery emerged. Italian academic Mario Scaramella, a contact of Litvinenko who has tested positive for polonium-210, which poisoned the former agent, was said to be "well" in hospital.
Reid vowed that British authorities would have no fear of tracking leads outside Britain. He was to meet European counterparts in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday. "Over the next few days, I think all of these things will widen out a little from the circle just being here in Britain," he told Sky News television on Sunday. "Tomorrow I will be at the European Council and I will certainly be sharing information, getting what we can from European counterparts; the health authorities have already started to liaise with their European colleagues and the police will follow wherever this investigation leads -- inside or outside of Britain. "We've got Mr Litvinenko himself obviously died of radiation poisoning. We've got Mr Scaramella, who already is less serious in some of the tests showed, but more serious than others." Litvinenko's wife Marina "has a negligible increase in the risk compared to, say, Litvinenko himself. "The vast majority of this, with one exception, possibly another, is radioactive materials which contaminate things but aren't a danger to the public," he added. Self-styled security expert Scaramella met Litvinenko in a London sushi restaurant on November 1, shortly before the former spy first felt ill. In a letter Saturday to his lawyer, Sergio Rastrelli, cited by the Italian news agency ANSA, Scaramella said that "despite a deep anxiety... I currently feel well. I have no symptoms." "Scotland Yard and the British health authorities told me that I had been poisoned with polonium 210," he wrote. Urine tests revealed "traces of a dose of polonium significantly lower than that used against Litvinenko... but this dose... is nevertheless considered to be potentially deadly."
Amid speculation that the poison was brought in from Russia after traces of a radioactive substance were found on British Airways planes operating the London-Moscow route, Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said that British airports were able to detect radioactive materials. "We have a layered system of security at our airports, some of which are visible to the public, some of those layers appropriately are not visible," he told BBC television. "We do have methods by which we can identify radioactive materials. That is only one dimension of that layered security." He added that some rumours circulating in British media were "spectacularly ill-informed", but theories into how Litvinenko came to be poisoned and who could be responsible again dominated Britain's Sunday newspapers.
Italian contact of ex-spy 'well' in hospital after positive radiation test
By Paula White,
WNS UK Senior Correspondent
LONDON - Britain's radioactive poisoning affair took a dramatic new twist as officials confirmed that a close contact of dead Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko had also tested positive for radiation. Italian academic Mario Scaramella was admitted to University College Hospital London (UCHL) after tests detected polonium 210 in his body, but he was said to be "well." "Tests have detected polonium 210 in Mr Scaramella's body, but at a considerably lower level than Mr Litvinenko," a UCHL spokesman said in a statement read to reporters on the steps of the hospital. "He is currently well and shows no symptoms of radiation poisoning. He's receiving further tests over the weekend."
Earlier Friday evening, public health officials said that an adult relative of Litvinenko had been exposed to polonium 210 -- a highly radioactive isotope -- but faced minimal risks. Britain's Sky News television reported that the relative was Litvinenko's wife Marina and the deadly toxin had been found on her clothes. And it emerged that police cordoned off a country hotel in the county of Sussex, south of London, as the investigation into Litvinenko's death continued apace. The general manager of the Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Park told Sky News: "I'm happy to say, happy to advise there's absolutely no concern to our guests and our staff and we are operating as normal at the moment." He refused to say whether Scaramella had been a guest there or whether radiation was found. The developments came as pathologists completed a potentially-hazardous post-mortem on Kremlin critic Litvinenko, who died a week ago claiming his killing was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime.
Health authorities reiterated that the risk to public health remained low, since the radioactive material at the heart of the scare is only harmful if ingested. But in a measure of the continuing high alert on the political level, the government again called a meeting of its COBRA top security cabinet, which is usually convened in national emergencies and has met regularly since the affair erupted. Scaramella has increasingly become the focus of the investigation. He met Litvinenko at a sushi restaurant on November 1 shortly before the Russian fell ill. The self-styled security expert, who has been under police guard at a London safe house, claimed he met Litvinenko to tell him both their names were on a Russian secret services hit list. Some have accused Scaramella of having a role in the poisoning case, but he has denied involvement.
Post-mortem due on former Russian spy as more people tested for radiation
By Suzie Decker,WNS London CorrespondentLONDON - Pathologists are preparing to carry out a potentially hazardous post-mortem on former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, as growing numbers of people were tested for possible exposure to radiation. The specialist autopsy was due to be carried out at a London hospital, a week after the defector and Kremlin critic's urine was found to have large quantities of the radioactive substance polonium-210. Those present were to wear protective clothing to avoid contamination by traces of the highly-toxic isotope, believed to be responsible for ravaging Litvinenko's body before his death last week, the BBC reported. The Russian's death last Thursday has triggered a growing health scare as traces of radiation have been found at more locations, and on board aircraft, apparently linked to the ex-spy or those who allegedly killed him. According to the latest figures, about 1,700 people have called the government-run health service's hotline saying they were at the locations Litvinenko is said to have visited on the day he fell ill. Of those, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) -- the body managing the unprecedented situation -- has followed up on 139 cases. As of Thursday, a total of 24 had been referred to specialists for an exposure assessment. Home Secretary John Reid told parliament Thursday that traces of radiation had been found at around 12 locations, out of a total of about 24 venues which were under investigation. Among people concerned about possible exposure to a radioactive substance found on two British Airways planes so far were Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and 2012 London Olympics organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe. They travelled to Barcelona on one of the BA aircraft. They have spoken to the authorities and the plane has since been given the all-clear. Britain's top police officer Sir Ian Blair said the cost of the police investigation so far was 300,000 pounds (590,000 dollars, 445,000 euros). The probe has gradually homed in on a string of London locations -- including two hospitals, a sushi bar and a hotel -- and three BA planes used on London-Moscow flights. BA said it was doing everything it could, after taking calls from more than 7,500 concerned customers so far on its special helpline and receiving more than 60,000 hits on its Internet page relating to the radiation alert. The airline said earlier that about 33,000 of its passengers may have come into contact with a radioactive substance. British police and intelligence services increasingly suspect that "rogue elements" within the Russian state are behind Litvinenko's death on November 23, The Guardian reported on Friday, and they have apparently ruled out official Kremlin involvement. Citing sources within the police and intelligence services, the paper said investigators were hunting a group of five or more men who arrived in London shortly before Litvinenko fell ill on November 1, and watched a Champions League football match between London club Arsenal and CSKA Moscow the same day. The group, described thus far only as witnesses, flew back to Moscow shortly afterward.
By Gary James,
