Britain rejected Russian allegations on Friday that it was politicising the case of murdered Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko. "We have no desire to aggravate diplomatic relations.
We have consistently said that the murder of Mr Litvinenko is a very serious criminal matter which put hundreds of British citizens and visitors to the capital at risk," a Foreign Office spokesman said. The Foreign Office denied any attempt to politicise the issue, noting it was being dealt with by "the relevant organs in the UK - the (London) Metropolitan police and the Crown Prosecution Service."
"The Crown Prosecution Service decided that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Lugovoy for murder by poisoning ... We now await a formal and constructive response to the extradition request so that the case can be tried by the appropriate, relevant organ - namely a UK court," the spokesman said.