Russia Demands British Council Closes Offices

[Purveyor]

In a dramatic escalation to the diplomatic dispute triggered by last year's murder of the ex-KGB defector Alexander Litvinenko, Russia's foreign ministry demanded the closure of the British Council's outlets in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg by the beginning of January.

Britain immediately vowed to defy the order, setting the stage for a potential police showdown at the two offices in the new year — a course that the British embassy in Moscow warned could have serious consequences.

"Any action against the British Council would constitute a serious breach of international law," the embassy's spokesman said.

Until yesterday there had been some doubt over whether the British Council's frequent tangles with officialdom, many of which predated Mr Litvinenko's murder, were directly connected to the sharp deterioration in relations between London and Moscow.

The Russian foreign ministry had accused the organisation, officially registered as the British embassy's cultural arm in Russia, of failing to pay tax and lacking legitimate status despite a bilateral treaty formally incorporating the body in 1994.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/12/wrussia212.xml

[acmavm]

1. The official government of a sovereign nation says shut down

and get out and the object of the eviction notice says 'no'?

I wonder how that works.