Russia to investigate claims of British spying

Moscow risked heightening tensions with Britain yesterday when the Russian security agency announced that it had launched an investigation into suspected British spying related to the Litvinenko case.

A statement from the Federal Security Service, the successor agency of the KGB, said the investigation was based on a statement by the chief murder suspect, Andrei Lugovoy, who made the accusations about British spying activities at a news conference in Moscow on 31 May. The security agency was also investigating "additional information from him about intelligence activity by the British special services on the territory of Russia".

Mr Lugovoy's extradition is being sought by the Crown Prosecution Service, who accuse him of deliberately poisoning another former KGB agent, Alexander Litvinenko, who died after drinking tea spiked with the radioactive isotope polonium-210 last November.

The murder triggered a diplomatic battle between the Kremlin and London at a time when relations have soured over the activities of prominent Russian exile Boris Berezovsky, whose extradition is wanted by Moscow. The Kremlin has suggested that it is Mr Berezovsky, and not Mr Lugovoy, who may be responsible for the murder of the Mr Litvinenko.

The British embassy in Moscow reacted to the statement from the Russian security service saying: "The Litvinenko affair is a criminal matter and not an issue of intelligence."

It added: "A British citizen was killed in London, and UK citizens and visitors were put at risk. We are seeking and expect full cooperation from the Russian authorities in bringing the perpetrator to face British justice."

The Foreign Office refused to comment further. But a western diplomat said that it looked like a new round in the Kremlin's strategy of "muddying the waters" in the case. Mr Lugovoy claimed that both Mr Litvinenko and Mr Berezovsky had contacts with British intelligence and that Mr Berezovsky had given Britain sensitive information about Russia. The UK-based exile vigorously denied the accusations.

Although the Russian authorities have not yet responded in writing to the extradition request from the Crown Prosecution Service, President Vladimir Putin has called the request "stupidity" on the ground that Russia is constitutionally barred from extraditing its citizens for trial.

But Britain is refusing to give ground. .

Yesterday, there was further dismay when arms talks in Vienna focusing on preserving a cornerstone of European security, the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty (CFE), ended in deadlock. Reiterating a threat to pull out of the 1990 pact, the Russian delegation chief Anatoly Antonov said: "This treaty is for all intents and purposes no longer viable."

The British arms control expert Dan Plesch warned yesterday that the CFE should not be allowed to become a bargaining chip in Russia's tense relationship with the West.

He pointed out that the treaty under discussion in Vienna had resulted in "the verified destruction of more than 60,000 combat aircraft and attack helicopters, battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, and artillery since 1992, and permits ongoing intrusive inspections of military installations from the Caucasus to the Atlantic.

"This achievement should be the basis of an initiative from NATO and the EU to extend these peace-building agreements into the world's conflict zones. Sadly, the diplomats in Brussels and Vienna lack this vision and are allowing the foundations of European security to crumble.

"The CFE treaty must be seen not as a relic of the Cold War but as tangible proof of what arms control can achieve," he said.