Britain expels Russian diplomats as row over Litvinenko murder grows

British ministers were braced for a tit-for-tat response by Russia after expelling four Russian diplomats from London in protest at the refusal of President Vladimir Putin to allow the extradition of the chief suspect wanted for the murder of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

The row plunged Britain into one of its worst diplomatic crises with Russia since the end of the Cold War and threatens to disrupt British business with Russia, worth billions of pounds. Underlining concern about the possible Russian reaction, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, briefed Richard Lambert, the director general of the CBI yesterday. They will hold crisis talks with major British companies today over possible retaliation against business interests in Russia.

They were the first expulsions since 1996, when four Russian diplomats were ordered out of Britain in a spying row, but there was no suggestion that any of the Russian diplomats expelled now were involved in the Litvinenko case or in spying. British ministers sought to avoid worsening the diplomatic fall-out, which comes at a time when activists backed by the Russian authorities have been harassing the British ambassador in Moscow and the British Council.

The decision was reached after lengthy discussions within the Government and among EU allies. The Government insists that because of the need to punish the perpetrators of such a unique crime, the expulsions are a "clear and proportionate response" to Russia's refusal to extradite the suspect, Andrei Lugovoy.

Russian authorities, who point out that Mr Lugovoy cannot be extradited for trial for constitutional reasons, reacted with fury last night. "They should understand well in London that the provocative actions conceived by the British authorities will not go unanswered and cannot fail to produce the most serious consequences for Russian-British relations as a whole," a Foreign Ministry spokes-man, Mikhail Kamynin, said.

Sources close to the British Foreign Secretary said: "He didn't rush into this. It has involved a lot of careful thought."

Gordon Brown said in Berlin last night that he wanted "the best relations" with Russia and was "sad" that Russian co-operation had not been forthcoming.

There was all-party unity at Westminster over the action, and the American under-secretary, Nicholas Burns, said the US "will stand behind the UK''. In Westminster, it was seen as a symbol of the "moral compass" being used by the Prime Minister after the departure of Tony Blair.

To intensify the pressure on the Putin administration, Mr Miliband said Britain was shelving a reform under negotiation with Russia to fast-track Russian visa applications for diplomats and to speed up the issue of visas for tourists and businessmen. Extra scrutiny will also be applied to visa applications - with applications from government officials likely to be examined even more closely.

Britain will seek to arrest and extradite Mr Lugovoy if he travels abroad to a third country, the Foreign Secretary warned.

Speaking to MPs in the Commons, Mr Miliband said Mr Litvinenko, a British citizen, had suffered a "horrifying and lingering death in front of his family" after being poisoned with the radioactive polonium-210.

Scotland Yard established that Mr Litvinenko was administered the lethal dose in tea he drank at a meeting with Mr Lugovoy at a London hotel. The plutonium-210 trail was traced to the aircraft on which Mr Lugovoy flew to and from London Heathrow. "His murder put hundreds of others, residents and visitors at risk of radiation contamination," said Mr Miliband.

Mr Kamynin said: "This is a well-orchestrated action aimed at politicising the so-called Litvinenko case, in which the Russian side is ready to fully co-operate with the British authorities."

Britain has rejected a Russian offer to try Mr Lugovoy in Russia. Mr Miliband said there were concerns that Russian law "is applied selectively".

A history of tit-for-tat expulsions

* 1971: 105 Soviet officials expelled by Britain after MI5 warned that there were at least 120 Soviet intelligence officers operating in Britain. The mass expulsions brought Soviet UK relations to a new low.

* 1985: 25 British nationals expelled from Russia two days after Britain ordered the expulsion of 25 alleged Soviet spies. This followed the defection of the Soviet double-agent Oleg Gordievsky, who gave an unprecedented amount of information about Soviet agents to the West.

* 1996: Moscow expels nine British diplomats it says are running a spy ring. Britain responds by expelling four Russians.

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