Rusia toma medidas para protegerse del caos británico

January 14, 2007 (LPAC)--The British Council, a so-called British "cultural" organization suspected of spreading the British "Chaos Game", defied a Russian government order to close its offices in two cities, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Late last year Russia had demanded that the British Council offices in these two cities be closed by January 1st. Russia, insisting that the offices operate illegally and that the council has permission to maintain orifices only in Moscow, today summoned the British ambassador to Russia to its office and threatened a series of punitive measures, including refusing to renew the visas of the organization's staff and opening tax investigation proceedings against the group. The Foreign Ministry also issued a statement which said in part: "The ambassador was informed that the Russian side considered the action a deliberate provocation, directed at complicating the relationship between Russia and Britain." Should the British not abide by the Russian demands, Russia has also threatened to close the British Council's main office in Moscow.