British prosecutors accused a former KGB agent of murder Tuesday in the radioactive poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko and asked Russia to extradite him. Russian prosecutors quickly refused.

Andrei Lugovoi, who has repeatedly denied any involvement with the death, had met with Litvinenko - also a former KGB operative - at a London hotel only hours before Litvinenko became ill with polonium-210 poisoning.

Litvinenko, 43, died on November 23 after three agonizing weeks in which his hair fell out, his skin turned yellow and his organs failed after ingesting the rare radioactive isotope. On his deathbed, he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind his killing. The Russian government denies involvement.

The politically charged case has driven relations between London and Moscow to post-Cold War lows.

One of Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett's top deputies summoned the Russian ambassador Tuesday and urged Moscow to cooperate. Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said the government had an extradition agreement with Moscow.

"Murder is murder; this is a very serious case," Blair's spokesman said on condition of anonymity, in line with government policy. "The manner of the murder was also very serious because of the risks to public health."

Russian prosecutors said they would not turn over Lugovoi but that he could be tried in Russia.

"In accordance with Russian law, citizens of Russia cannot be turned over to foreign states," spokeswoman Marina Gridneva of the federal Prosecutor-General's office, told reporters. However, it is possible he could be tried in Russia if evidence was handed over, she said.

Formal extradition documents are expected to handed over later this week, a Foreign Office spokesman said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

Speaking from Tokyo, where she is in talks with Japanese lawyers, Beckett said she strongly hoped that "Britain and Russia could find a solution that would bring justice."
 
After the poisoning, investigators unearthed a trail of radiation across London, which led to several buildings being cordoned off. Some British Airways flights were grounded because of concerns they might be contaminated by polonium. Health officials also tested hundreds of individuals for suspected radiation poisoning.

Seventeen people tested positive for above-average levels of polonium, but authorities say the risk to their health is low. Two buildings remain closed to the public.

Litvinenko had become a vocal Kremlin critic who said Russian authorities were behind deadly 1999 apartment building bombings that fueled support for a renewed offensive against separatists in Chechnya. Litvinenko also was a close associate of slain investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Litvinenko's widow, Marina, said she was "happy with the job Scotland Yard did today." She said she hoped that Lugovoi would be brought to Britain and tried in London so she could "get justice" for her 11-year-old son Anatoly.

(China Daily via agencies May 23, 2007)