MOSCOW - Russia should carry out its own investigation into the poisoning death in London of former intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko, the deputy justice minister was quoted by a newspaper here as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks on the phone at his office in the Kremlin. Russia should carry out its own investigation into the poisoning death in London of former intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko, the deputy justice minister was quoted by a newspaper as saying. [AFP]

Given that Litvinenko was a Russian citizen, as well as having British citizenship, "our security agencies should not be indifferent to what happened," Vladimir Kolesnikov said in quotes carried by the Kommersant newspaper, deriving from the Interfax news agency.

"We should take a procedural decision and carry out our own full, multi-faceted, objective investigation... cooperating with the security agencies of other countries including Britain," he said.

On Tuesday Russia laid down strict ground rules for visiting British counter-terrorism police probing the poisoning and ruled out the extradition of any suspects.

The British team flew in to a frosty reception in the Russian capital on Monday and, according to a British Embassy spokesman here, has already begun their inquiries into a case that has created serious tensions between London and Moscow.

While the Russian side has promised to cooperate with the investigation, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika made it clear that the British officers would only be allowed to work under tight controls.

At a tense press conference, Chaika stressed that only Russian investigators had the right to actually question witnesses in Russia and ruled out any possibility of the British team making any arrests while here or extraditing suspects.

"They can't arrest Russian citizens," he said. "If they have to be investigated, we can do that in Russia according to a convention. We can open an inquiry... and put them on trial in Russia."

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