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Spy poison plot

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: In what seemed like a replay of scenes from Cold War politics buzzing with anti-Moscow conspiracy theories, a former Russian spy, who defected to Britain six years ago, sparked sensationalist headlines here on Sunday when he alleged a Kremlin-inspired attempt to poison him.

Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in Russia's secret service — the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) — was reported to be "fighting for his life'' in a London hospital following mysterious food poisoning which he alleged was a plot to assassinate him because of his outspoken criticism of the Russian Government.

The BBC said it was "thought'' that he had been investigating the death of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in Moscow last month.

He has claimed that he fell ill after meeting a contact, whom he had not known before, in a central London sushi bar on November 1.

Scotland Yard confirmed that they were investigated a "suspicious poisoning''.

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