Russia suspends British Council regional offices

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia ordered the British government's cultural arm on Wednesday to halt work at its regional offices, in the latest round of a bitter dispute over the murder of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko.

Relations between Russia and Britain hit their lowest level since the Cold War this year after Moscow refused to extradite a former KGB bodyguard who Britain suspects of poisoning Litvinenko in 2006 with radioactive polonium.

Russia said the British Council, which promotes British culture abroad, had breached international rules on consular activities by failing to properly register 15 regional offices.

Britain said Russia's move was illegal and the British Council had nothing to do with the row over Litvinenko's murder, which sparked a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats in July.

"This is a continuation of the exchange of measures which resulted from the Litvinenko murder," British Ambassador Anthony Brenton told Reuters by telephone.

"Why do the Russian authorities want to do something that their own people will suffer from?" Brenton said. "What Russia is planning to do is illegal."

Brenton said Britain "was very much hoping" that Russian would reconsider. British opposition politicians called on the government to lodge a protest with the Russian government.

Britain and Russia are linked by tens of billions of dollars in trade and bilateral investments -- including major stakes in oil projects held by BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

But in July, Britain expelled four diplomats in response to Russia's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy to stand trial for Litvinenko's murder. Russia followed that by expelling four British diplomats.

Russia said its constitution forbids the extradition of its own citizens. Lugovoy has always denied having anything to do with the murder.

RETALIATION

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the BBC released on Wednesday that Moscow's stance on the British Council was retaliation against Britain after the July expulsions.

"The British government undertook some actions which inflicted systemic damage to our relations so we have to retaliate," Lavrov said in the interview, a transcript of which was obtained by Reuters.

"This is nothing to do with anti-British sentiments. It's the law of the genre if you wish," Lavrov said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry ordered a halt to work at the British Council's offices from January 1 next year. It said the council had breached the 1963 Vienna Convention on consular activities, a claim denied by Britain's Foreign Office.