(FILES) Alexander Litvinenko, a former l

LONDON, United Kingdom: (FILES) Alexander Litvinenko, a former lieutenant colonel in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) -- successor to the Soviet KGB, is pictured at a press conference in London, 14 September 2004. Litvinenko, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is fighting for his life in a London hospital Sunday after an apparent bid to kill him by poisoning. Litvinenko fell ill after meeting a contact at a London sushi bar who purportedly had information on the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, said the Mail on Sunday newspaper. He fell ill shortly after his appointment with the mysterious contact on November 1, media reports said. A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police told AFP that Litvinenko was "in a serious but stable condition". AFP PHOTO/ Martyn HAYHOW (Photo credit should read MARTIN HAYHOW/AFP via Getty Images)