An Italian contact of Alexander Litvinenko denied on Thursday he had poisoned the former Russian spy and said British police were looking elsewhere in the murder investigation, Reuters reports.
Mario Scaramella, who is under British police protection, met Litvinenko on November 1 at a London sushi restaurant where traces of the deadly poison Polonium 210 were also found.

Scaramella told Reuters by telephone that medical tests in Britain showed he had not been contaminated by the poison.

Media in Britain and Italy said on Wednesday that Litvinenko told a friend shortly before dying that the Italian might have killed him.

“This is all completely absurd,” Scaramella said, adding “I am not being investigated or a suspect. I am collaborating with the investigations, which are headed in every other direction.”

Scaramella, who has advised Italy’s parliament on Soviet-era espionage and describes himself as a security consultant, said he would be able to fully explain himself and speak more freely this weekend.

“But I can’t make any statements. Be patient,” he said.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema told parliament Scaramella had advised a committee on espionage between 2003 and this year but was not part of the Italian secret services.

At the meeting in the London sushi bar, Scaramella showed Litvinenko emails warning that their lives might be in danger from St. Petersburg-based criminals.

Beyond the sushi bar, traces of radiation have been detected at several more sites, including Litvinenko’s home, a hotel he visited, the offices of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and the offices of Erinys, a security and risk management company.

British Airways said on Wednesday that police probing Litvinenko’s death had found “very low traces” of radiation had been found on two of its aircraft.

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