Russia vows to continue British extradition battles

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) Russia's new prosecutor general said today he would continue the Kremlin's long-running battle to extradite some of its most wanted men from Britain.

British courts have turned down all attempts to bring multi-millionaire tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev back to Russia to stand trial.

They both live in London protected by political asylum and say they would have no chance of a fair trial.

''Together with specialists from the prosecutor's office in Great Britain, we will analyse all the criminal cases where we have been refused extradition,'' said Yuri Chaika, the former justice minister who took over as chief prosecutor this month.

''Whatever action we need to take, we will do it,'' he said in televised comments.

He added that a group of specialists from the prosecutor's office, the foreign ministry and the justice ministry were heading to London to discuss extradition issues.

Berezovsky helped President Vladimir Putin to power at the end of Boris Yeltsin's rule but fell foul of the Kremlin and fled from Russia in 2000. Russia wants Berezovsky to stand trial on fraud charges and has also accused him of plotting a coup.

Britain also refused to extradite Zakayev, exiled foreign minister in the rebel ''government'' of the turbulent Caucasus region, leading Russia to accuse the West of double standards in fighting terrorism.

''For us extradition is not a political but a judicial question.

So a decision entirely depends on evidence that our laws have been broken,'' Anjoum Noorani, head of press at the British embassy in Moscow, told Ekho Moskvy radio.

Reuters SHB RN1650