Gaidar: poison caused illness

FORMER Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar is certain his mysterious sudden illness last month was caused by poisoning. He said yesterday that opponents of the Russian authorities were likely responsible.

The 50-year-old liberal economist who served briefly as prime minister in the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin and leader of a liberal opposition party became violently ill during a conference in Ireland on November 24.

The previous day, Alexander Litvinenko died in London, and the radioactive element polonium-210 was found in his body.

The incidents fuelled speculation of a hunt against liberal Russians, including journalist Anna Politkovs-kaya, who was gunned down in her apartment building in October.

Mr Gaidar described the onset of his illness and the symptoms: irresistible fatigue (and episodes of sleep), bleeding from the nose and mouth, vomiting and loss of consciousness.

By the time Gaidar returned to Moscow, it was too late for lab tests to detect the toxin that allegedly caused his illness.

“You can blame little green men — but if you remain within the bounds of reason, we are talking precisely of poisoning,” Gaidar said.

He said he excluded the possibility that Russian authorities were responsible, since Litvinenko’s death — which has greatly damaged Russia’s image — it would not be in their interest.

"He said: “Open or hidden enemies of the Russian authorities, those who are interested in a further radical deterioration of ties between Russia and the West, stands behind this”.