Russia-Britain relations not affected by Litvinenko case : Ivanov

Moscow, May 23 (UNI) Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov today denied that there was any link between the murder of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko and Russia-Britain relations.

"To tell the truth, I do not see any link between Litvinenko's death and the development of Russian-British relations, in general," Mr Ivanov said at a press conference here.

He said Britain's demand for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi, allegedly involved in the murder of Litvinenko, did not damage the relations between Moscow and London.

Mr Ivanov said Lugovoi's fate would be decided by a Russian court and the Prosecutor General's Office.

"We have courts and the prosecutor's office, which are independent from the executive branch of power and will make an independent decision when they receive the case files from Britain," Mr Ivanov said, who is widely expected to succeed President Vladimir Putin.

"As for the Russian-British relations, I think they are Okay. No problem, as the British say," he pointed out.

Litvinenko, who was living in political exile in London, died of radioactive polonium -210 poisoning, allegedly administered to him by Lugovoi, in a hotel in the same city.

Lugovoi, however, denied his role in the murder, saying he was shocked by the bias of British prosecutors and promised sensational statements that would shatter attitudes to "certain persons of Russian descent" in an apparent reference to Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who is also living in exile in London.

Russian prosecutors have also unsuccessfully sought the extradition of Berezovsky, on fraud charges and most recently for trying to instigate a coup.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General Sabir Kekhlerov told Interfax news agency today that the Russian prosecution authorities were expecting London to provide with documents upholding the charges brought against Lugovoi.

Commenting on the British request that Lugovoi be extradited to face charges of poisoning Litvinenko in London, Kekhlerov pointed out that the Russian constitution prohibited the extradition of Russian citizens to other countries.

"Britain has the right to send all the documents to us, if it believes the guilt of our citizen is proved," Mr Kekhlerov said.

The Prosecutor General's Office was conducting its own investigation into Litvinenko's death and may open a case against Lugovoi on its own, he added.

"If the prosecution authorities find reasonable grounds for this and if we view the grounds provided to us by the British side as reasonable, we will make an appropriate judgement about them," Mr Kekhlerov said.

UNI