Ex-Russian PM's mystery illness

November 30, 2006

Gaidar, 50, a former acting prime minister who is now an influential academic, was taken to hospital earlier this week after he collapsed during a visit to Ireland to present his new book. He was later moved to a Moscow hospital. His illness followed the death in London of a strong critic of President Vladimir Putin, ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with a radioactive substance.