British ambassador challenges Russia on Litvinenko

Britain's ambassador has issued a direct challenge to Russia over its refusal to extradite the man accused of killing Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London.

Russia has refused to turn over former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoy on the grounds that its constitution forbids extradition of Russian citizens, but Anthony Brenton said in an interview published today that Russia could get around the ban if it wanted to co-operate.

"Russia's constitution, like those of other states, is clearly capable of interpretation in the light of circumstances," he said in the interview with the Interfax news agency and Kommersant newspaper.

The ambassador noted specific sections of the constitution that were routinely violated in Russia.

Russia's prosecutor general was scheduled to address Russia's co-operation with Britain in the Litvinenko case at a news conference today. The case was also expected to be discussed at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.

Lugovoy is accused of poisoning Litvinenko, a former KGB colleague, with radioactive polonium at a London hotel on November 1 last year. Litvinenko died in a London hospital on November 23.

Lugovoy, who appears regularly in public in Moscow, has denied any involvement.