British council shuts Russian office as staff summoned

Moscow (ANTARA News) - The British government`s cultural arm said on
Thursday it had halted work in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg
because staff were being interviewed by Russia`s domestic intelligence
service.

The British Council has been caught up in an escalating dispute with
Russia over the legality of its regional branches, part of a wider
diplomatic row between London and Moscow.



The Council shut its other Russian regional office in the northern city
of St Petersburg on Wednesday after Russian staff were summoned by the
Federal Security Service, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

"The normal services usually offered by the British Council in
Yekaterinburg can not be offered today because FSB interviews with
staff are continuing," a British Council spokeswoman said by telephone
from London, Reuters reported.

"The staff there are not working today."(*)

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