Britain slams Russia after closing culture offices

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Britain accused Russia of Cold War tactics on Thursday after what it called a campaign of intimidation by security services forced its cultural centers in two Russian cities to halt operations.

The British Council has been involved in an escalating dispute with Moscow over the legality of its Russian branches, part of a wider diplomatic argument over the murder in 2006 of a former Russian agent in Britain.

The British Council said it would suspend its work in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg after Russian staff were summoned for interviews by the Federal Security Service (FSB) domestic intelligence agency, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Russia's behavior towards the British Council was "reprehensible, not worthy of a great country" and that Russian staff had been the subject of "blatant intimidation."

"We saw similar actions during the Cold War but thought they had been put behind us," Miliband said.

"Russia's actions therefore raise serious questions about her observance of international law, as well as about the standards of behavior she is prepared to adopt towards her own citizens."

The European Union and United States expressed regret at the actions taken by Russia against British Council staff.

"The EU deeply regrets in particular the harassment of British Council staff, as well as the administrative and other measures announced by the Russian authorities," the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

Britain and Russia, linked in trade and investment worth billions of dollars a year, have been at odds since the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London with a rare radioactive material.

Each country expelled four diplomats in the spat after Moscow refused to extradite Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy to face trial for the murder. He denies any role in the death, which has soured diplomatic ties.

'BLATANT INTIMIDATION'

The British Council said Russia tried to intimidate staff by using the FSB security service and tax police.

More than 20 Russian employees were summoned by the FSB to attend individual interviews while 10 more were visited at home by the Russian tax police, it said.

Staff were quizzed on topics ranging from the status of the British Council to the health of family pets, Miliband said.

"The Russian Government initiated a campaign of intimidation against our staff," the British Council's Chief Executive Martin Davidson said.

"The Russian authorities have made it impossible for us to continue our work in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg and I have therefore decided that we will suspend our operations in both cities," he told a news conference in London.

Russia's FSB said it had invited Russian employees of the British Council for interviews to tell them that they might be used by Britain "in provocative games".

The 25 Russian staff working at the two offices have been sent home on full pay. The only remaining office of the British Council in Russia is in Moscow.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Demianchuk in St Petersburg, Natalya Shurmina in Yekaterinburg and Adrian Croft in London; Editing by Matthew Jones)