Russia repeats request for Britain to extradite tycoon

Russia is repeating its request to Britain to extradite self-exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky in connection with his alleged call for a coup in Russia, a top prosecutor confirmed today.

Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov said Berezovsky faced up to 20 years in prison for January interviews in which the former Kremlin insider made it clear he “had been engaged in preparations for a seizure of power in Russia.”

Berezovsky has denied calling for the overthrow of the Russian government, telling British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that he had instead called for a “robust ploy for power, forcing a regime change.”

Kolesnikov told the security committee of the lower house of parliament that prosecutors were looking into allegations that Berezovsky had funded radical Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that two deputy ministers had met separately Thursday with Britain’s ambassador to Moscow, Anthony Brenton, to discuss issues including the Iranian nuclear crisis, the future of the UN war crimes tribunal and “some topical questions of Russian-British relations.”