Russia rules out any extraditions

Russia's chief prosecutor yesterday ruled out any extraditions to Britain over the poisoning to death in London of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko but said he would help British police in their inquiries in Moscow.

A team of Scotland Yard detectives started work in the Russian capital looking for leads into the death of Mr Litvinenko, an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who died in a London hospital from a lethal dose of radioactive polonium 210.

The case has strained relations between Moscow and London with the Kremlin angry at Mr Litvinenko's death-bed claim - given blanket coverage in the British media - that Mr Putin had ordered his assassination.

"In line with international practice it is us who conduct investigations on Russian territory," Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika told a news conference.

"We will do the interviewing and they (the British investigators) can only be present during the questioning... Of course, they can ask us for permission to conduct interviews, which we may or may not grant."

Mr Chaika dismissed speculation that the polonium 210 had been smuggled into Britain from Russia.

Mr Chaika also said that if the detectives from London identify any Russian citizens as suspects, they will be tried in a Russian, not a British, court.

Asked about possible extraditions, he said: "This will not be possible." Police to date have neither charged nor identified as a suspect anyone in the Litvinenko case.

Mr Chaika did say, however, his officials would help the British team gain access to Andrei Lugovoy, a Litvinenko associate thought to be of interest to Scotland Yard.