Russia will not extradite Lugovoy to Britain: Ifax

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia would not extradite Andrei Lugovoy if Britain asked for him to be handed over to stand trial for poisoning ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, a source in the prosecutor-general's office told Interfax news agency on Friday.

Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday that London would ask Moscow to extradite Lugovoy, a former KGB bodyguard, to stand trial for poisoning Litvinenko, who died from radiation poisoning in the British capital in November.

"If we receive an official request from London to extradite Lugovoy, the answer will probably be as follows: the Russian constitution forbids the extradition of its citizens," the source in the prosecutor-general's office told Interfax.

The source said that a Russian citizen could stand trial in Russia for crimes committed abroad.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor-general's office declined to comment. Lugovoy told Reuters last month he had nothing to do with Litvinenko's murder.