Russian youths lift picket, say Estonia envoy flown out

MOSCOW, May 3 (Reuters) Pro-Kremlin youth activists said today they were lifting a week-long picket at the Estonian embassy after the Baltic state's envoy to Russia left for a holiday.

The decision calmed a diplomatic row over the moving of a Soviet war memorial in Tallinn.

''We are removing our picket at the embassy,'' said Anastasia Suslova, a spokeswoman for Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth group that has official endorsement. ''As far as we know, ambassador Marina Kaljurand has left Russia.'' Estonia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Kaljurand's holiday would last for two weeks and had originally been planned for the end of April.

''There is no political or health reason for her vacation,'' the ministry said in a statement.

Estonian embassy officials in Russia could not be immediately reached for comment.

REUTERS RS RAI2134