British prosecutors demanded yesterday the extradition of a former KGB man to face charges over the radiation murder of Alexander Litvinenko, in a move likely to seriously strain ties with Moscow.
Russian authorities immediately said they would not hand over Andrei Lugovoi, a wealthy Russian businessman, despite London's demands for "full cooperation" from Moscow over the affair.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) called for his extradition over the poisoning of Litvinenko last November, which CPS chief Sir Ken Macdonald called an "extraordinarily grave crime."
"I have today concluded that the evidence sent to us by the police is sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoi with the murder of Mr Litvinenko," Macdonald said.
Lugovoi met Litvinenko, a former Russian agent turned dissident, in London on Nov. 1 last year -- the day he was poisoned with the highly radioactive isotope polonium 210.
Litvinenko, 43, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in agony in a London hospital 22 days later.
Russia has angrily denied any involvement. But Moscow's ambassador was hauled in by the Foreign Office to be told that London expects "full cooperation" in bringing Lugovoi to face justice.
Anglo-Russia ties have hit a post-Cold War low with Litvinenko's murder and London-based exile Boris Berezovsky's calls to overthrow Putin. Britain refuses to extradite the tycoon.
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