UK to outline steps against Russia in murder case

LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) British Foreign Secretary David Miliband will make a statement today in which he is expected to outline measures against Moscow for its refusal to extradite the murder suspect in the case of emigre Alexander Litvinenko.

Miliband will speak to parliament at 3:30 pm (2000 IST), Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman told reporters.

The spokesman declined to give further details of the imminent announcement amid speculation Britain could expel Russian diplomats for the first time in a decade.

His statement could put London and Moscow on a diplomatic collision course with Russia threatening retaliatory measures.

British officials have said they may take unspecified steps against Russia for refusing to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, a former state security agent, to stand trial over the poisoning of Litvinenko in London last year.

Litvinenko, a former employee of Russia's Federal Security Service who became a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died an agonising death after ingesting a lethal dose of the rare radioactive substance polonium 210.

Traces of polonium were found in locations frequented by Lugovoy before Litvinenko's death but he has insisted he is innocent, saying British intelligence or anti-Kremlin emigres probably murdered Litvinenko.

Britain has rejected a Russian offer to put Lugovoy on trial at home, saying it doubts Moscow's promises of a fair trial.

Miliband told BBC Television yesterday that economic relations with Russia were strong but that the murder of Litvinenko was ''a very serious crime''.

REUTERS KK BD1632