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Litvinenko: Cameron must keep the file open.

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The murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 remains a stumbling block between Great Britain and Russia. The killing subsequently led to a number of tit for tat diplomatic expulsions.
 
Earlier that year, in March, myself and a colleague were introduced to Litvinenko by Oleg Gordievsky, former deputy head of KGB. Litvinenko provided information that enabled London MEP Gerard Batten to expose Romano Prodi as a former KGB "asset". I have subsequently taken a personal interest in this killing, which Batten described, quite rightly, as "an act of war".
 
President Medvedev is reported to be putting pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to "reset" relations between the two countries by allowing the matter to rest. This is outrageous request, and it is reassuring to note that Cameron appears to be resisting. The man wanted for the murder, Andrei Lugovoy, sits as a deputy in the Russian parliament. He is a member of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's neo-fascist Liberal Democrat party. Although an international arrest warrant means that Lugovoy is unable to travel abroad, Russia's constitution does not allow for extradition.
 
It is worth noting that Lugovoy is not the only Russian Deputy who is wanted for murder.
 
Adam Delimkhanov, a Russian State Duma Deputy from Vladimir Putin's United Russia party is wanted by police in Dubai for the killing last year of the Chechen Sulim Yamadayev.
 
Russia's Federal Law 153-FZ allows the security services to kill "extremists" overseas. This is the law that justified the killing of Litvinenko. As a critic of Vladimir Putin, Litvinenko was defined by 153-FZ as an extremist. The law does specify that federal security services may eliminate extremists overseas "by a decision of the President". Putin's prior knowledge of this operation is not in doubt.
 
Mr Cameron should stand firm: Alexander Litvinenko was a British citizen, and the fact of his murder by a "formar" KGB agent on British soil must remain in the minds of the politicians when they do business with the Kremlin.
 
 

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