WORLD / Europe
Ex-spy case chills UK-Russia ties
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-05-23 14:29
LONDON - British prosecutors demanded Tuesday that Russia extradite an
ex-KGB agent to face murder charges over the death of former spy
Alexander Litvinenko, plunging chilly ties with Moscow to a new low.
British prosecutors demanded Tuesday that Russia extradite an ex-KGB
agent to face murder charges over the death of former spy Alexander
Litvinenko, pictured in 2004, plunging chilly ties with Moscow to a new
low. [Agencies]
Russian authorities immediately said they would not hand over Andrei
Lugovoi despite London's demands for "full cooperation" over the Cold
War-style affair.
And the wealthy businessman flatly denied he was guilty, saying it was "a
political decision," adding: "I did not kill Litvinenko. I have nothing
to do with his death," according to Russian news agencies.
Lugovoi vowed to reveal what he called sensational details about the case.
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service called for his extradition six months
after the radiation poisoning of Litvinenko in London last November,
described as an "extraordinarily grave crime" by CPS chief Sir Ken
Macdonald.
"I have today concluded that the evidence sent to us by the police is
sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoi with the murder of Mr Litvinenko by
deliberate poisoning," Macdonald said at a press conference.
A fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Litvinenko met
Lugovoi in London on November 1 last year, the day he was poisoned with
the highly radioactive isotope polonium 210.
The 43-year-old died in agony in a London hospital 22 days later.
Moscow has angrily denied having a hand in the killing, and on Tuesday
the Russian foreign ministry said extraditing Lugovoi to Britain would
contradict the Russian constitution.
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"Concerning the question of extradition: as is known, the handover of
Russian citizens to foreign states contradicts the Russian constitution,"
the ministry said.
But Russia's ambassador Yuri Fedotov was hauled in by the Foreign Office
to be told London expects "full cooperation" in bringing Lugovoi to face
justice.
Lugovoi told Russian state TV he would shortly reveal information that
will be "a sensation for British public opinion and could fundamentally
alter how these events are viewed."
He said he too had suffered radiation exposure and "I consider myself a
victim."
Lugovoi could only be formally charged once he arrived in Britain and
appeared in court, according to a spokeswoman for the CPS, which oversees
criminal prosecutions in England and Wales.
Anglo-Russia ties have hit a post-Cold War low with Litvinenko's murder
and London-based exile Boris Berezovsky's calls to overthrow Putin.
British courts have refused to allow the tycoon to be extradited.
Russia is also at odds with the West over the US missile defence system
to be deployed in central Europe and United Nations plans to grant Kosovo
independence from its ally Serbia.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said Britain was taking
the Lugovoi charges very seriously.
"Obviously we have political and economic connections with Russia," he
said.
"However, what that doesn't in any way obviate is the need for the
international rule of law to be respected and we will not in any way shy
away from trying to ensure that that happens in a case such as this," he
insisted.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the United States was "not taking
sides" with either Britain or Russia.
Litvinenko's widow Marina hailed the decision to press charges - and
urged Russia, via Fedotov, to extradite him to prove it wasn't
responsible for "state terrorism."
Meanwhile, her lawyer said she had sent a letter to the European Court of
Human Rights lodging a formal complaint over alleged Russian breaches of
European Union law requiring proper investigations into murders.
Litvinenko accused Moscow of being behind his poisoning in a letter
released after his death.
The ex-agent, who had been granted political asylum in Britain and
formally became a British citizen last year, was administered large doses
of polonium 210.
Lugovoi, who now specialises in bodyguard duties and owns a large drinks
factory in Russia, flew to London with his business associate Dmitry
Kovtun and met Litvinenko on November 1.
Litvinenko drank tea when he met the pair at the Millennium Hotel in
central London, where investigators later found traces of polonium and
staff tested positive for low level radiation contamination.
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