久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

   

Russia restrict visas for British Council staff

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-14 22:42

Moscow -- Russia announced on Monday it will not issue new entry visas to staff working in the British government's cultural offices in two regions, sharpening a row that has soured already-poor relations.

Russia ordered the British Council to halt work at the two regional offices from January 1 in a move both sides have linked to a diplomatic feud over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian emigre critical of the Kremlin.

Britain has called the Russian order illegal and on Monday the two offices, in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, resumed work after the long New Year break, Reuters correspondents in both cities said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned British ambassador Tony Brenton on Monday and soon after issued a statement blasting Britain for defying the order and keeping its offices open.

"Russia views such actions as an intentional provocation aimed at inflaming tensions in Russian-British relations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its www.mid.ru website.

"The Russian side will not issue visas to new employees sent to work in the (British) consular offices of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work" the statement said.

The British ambassador, leaving the Foreign Ministry after his talks with officials, said the British Council would continue its operations in Russia's regions.

British officials say the Russian move against the British Council is linked to the dispute over Litvinenko's 2006 murder by radiation poisoning in London, an episode that has driven relations to their lowest level since the Cold War.

Britain named former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoy as its suspect in Litvinenko's murder, and in July Britain expelled four Russian diplomats over Moscow's refusal to extradite Lugovoy. Russia expelled four British diplomats in response.

Litvinenko Link 

The head of the British Council in Russia, James Kennedy, said Monday that Moscow had made the dispute a political one.

"We haven't made this link, that link has been made by the Russian authorities," Kennedy said when asked about a connection to the Litvinenko case.

"We, at the British Council, are a non-political organisation. We work in the field of education and culture and we regret that this has been turned into a political dispute."

Russia says it ordered the two British Council offices to halt their work because of long-standing concerns that their legal status, as separate entities from the British embassy, was not in line with Russian law.

The offices, which promote British culture abroad and arrange educational exchanges, have also been subject to tax investigations.



Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
主站蜘蛛池模板: 男女一级| 手机看片福利永久 | 成人在线一区二区三区 | 久久亚洲国产午夜精品理论片 | 日韩在线手机看片免费看 | 欧美美女网站 | 精品欧美成人bd高清在线观看 | 精品国产成人a区在线观看 精品国产成人a在线观看 | 九九夜色 | 麻豆国产96在线 | 中国 | 丁香五香天堂 | 亚洲国产精品看片在线观看 | 久久在线国产 | 久色成人| 91年精品国产福利线观看久久 | 欧美变态一级毛片 | 亚洲精品国产精品国自产网站 | 精品国产亚一区二区三区 | 国产成人精品视频一区二区不卡 | 一级黄一片 | 亚洲日韩中文字幕天堂不卡 | 亚洲日本欧美综合在线一 | 久久久久女人精品毛片九一 | 在线播放成人毛片免费视 | 久久影院国产 | 国产视频高清在线 | 国产欧美一区二区久久 | 美女张开双腿让男人桶视频免费 | 亚洲国产欧美在线人成aaa | 99精品在线观看 | 久久国产成人精品麻豆 | 成人a网站| 太平公主三级dvd | 日韩国产欧美一区二区三区在线 | 女人让男人桶的小视频 | 中国国产一级毛片 | 抱着cao才爽免费观看 | 男人天堂欧美 | 毛片免费观看视频 | 92手机看片福利永久国产 | 欧美三级中文字幕 |