Yekaterinburg to stop operations MOSCOW, Dec 12, SPA -- Russia on Wednesday ordered a Britishcultural organization to suspend all of its operationsoutside Moscow at the beginning of 2008, the latest move ina long-running dispute, reported ap. Russian officials accusedthe British Council, anon-governmental organization that acts as the culturaldepartment of the British Embassy, of operating illegallyin St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in astatement that British Council operations in those twocities violated the Vienna Convention on ConsularRelations. Russian officials have long claimed the councilis a for-profit organization subject to taxation. Natalia Minchenko, marketing director for the BritishCouncil's main Moscow office, denied that contention andtold The Associated Press that «we have no plans to shutdown» the regional offices. «Any action against the British Council would constitutea serious breach of international law and would depriveRussians of cultural and educational resources,» aspokesman for the British Embassy said on condition of notbeing named, in line with usual practice. He said theregional offices also conformed with a Britain-Russiacultural agreement signed in 1994. The order comes amid tense relations between Moscow andLondon. Britain this year called for Russia to extradite AndreiLugovoi, whom it identifies as the main suspect in the 2006killing in London of dissident former security agentAlexander Litvinenko. Russia says its constitutionprohibits it from doing so. Russia, in turn, is furious at Britain for refusing toextradite tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a fierce Kremlin critic,and Chechen separatist envoy Akhmed Zakayev. Both men havebeen granted political asylum in Britain. In July, Britain expelled four Russian diplomats inprotest of the refusal to extradite Lugovoi. Russiacountered by ordering four British diplomats to leave. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/508637