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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Decision to grant Luke Harding an extension to his visa comes just before a rare visit to UK by Russian foreign minister
- guardian.co.uk,
Russia's foreign ministry has reversed its decision to deport the Guardian's Moscow correspondent, saying that Luke Harding would be granted an extension to his visa to carry on reporting if the newspaper wanted him to.
The U-turn came just before a rare visit by Russia's foreign minister to the UK and follows widespread criticism from British politicians of the journalist's removal.
Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the ministry, said the country was ready to issue a visa so Harding could "continue his activity for the amount of time his tenure in Russia has been extended".
On Tuesday Harding had been told that he would only be allowed to return to Russia until his visa expired at the end of May – with the foreign ministry blaming the journalist for failing to take a press card with him before going abroad.
Last weekend Harding was deported when he returned to Russia after a stint in London reporting on the WikiLeaks cables, becoming the first journalist employed by a newspaper or broadcaster to be kicked out of the country since the end of the cold war.
In December the Guardian published an article by Harding, based on the contents of the leaked US diplomatic cables, which reported that the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, was likely to have known about the planned assassination of Alexander Litvinenko because of his "attention to detail".
The Guardian said: "We welcome the offer from the Russian foreign ministry to give our Moscow correspondent, Luke Harding, a new visa so he may continue to work in Russia. Luke and the Guardian are now considering the offer very carefully."
The row has threatened to overshadow the visit of Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, who is due in the UK for a diplomatic visit early next week.
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