* Environmental protesters being held on piracy charges
* First foreigners to appeal against detention fail
* Finish minister resigns over separate Greenpeace protest
By Gabriela Baczynska
MOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Two Britons held in Russia for aGreenpeace protest were ordered to remain in pre-trial detentionon Friday, a defeat for the first of the many foreigners amongthe 30 detainees to seek bail.
Freelance videographer Kieron Bryan and Greenpeace activistPhillip Ball, who, like the others, face piracy charges, hadappealed against their detention through late November.
The court, in the northern port city of Murmansk, hadalready denied bail to four Russians held for the Sept. 18protest in which a Greenpeace boat was boarded by securityforces close to an oil rig in the Arctic.
The arrests and the piracy charges - punishable by up to 15years in prison - appear aimed at deterring protests and sendinga message that Moscow will not tolerate any such actions.
Other countries and companies are seeking to exploit Arcticenergy resources and face similar concerns fromenvironmentalists. A Finnish minister resigned on Friday over arow about a Greenpeace protest last year.
Some activists had tried to scale the Gazprom-owned Prirazlomnaya rig which is an important part ofRussia's plans to develop the resource-rich Arctic, a moveGreenpeace says could destroy a pristine environment.
Investigators have said more charges will be pressed againstsome protesters after drugs and other suspect items were foundon the boat, the Arctic Sunrise. Greenpeace denies there wereillegal items aboard.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the activists werenot pirates but that they violated international law. The headof the Kremlin's advisory body on human rights has said he wouldask prosecutors to withdraw the piracy charges.
Greenpeace says the protest was peaceful and calls thepiracy charges absurd and unfounded. Those arrested includeAmerican, Argentinian, Australian, Canadian, Danish, Dutch,French, Italian, New Zealand, Swiss and Turkish citizens,Greenpeace says.
In neighbouring Finland, a government minister who hadappeared sympathetic to Greenpeace in a separate Arctic protest,resigned.
Heidi Hautala, minister for international development who isalso in charge of overseeing state ownership in companies wascriticised by colleagues and the media for trying to dissuadestate-owned shipping firm Arctia Shipping from filing a criminalcomplaint against the protest group.
Protesters scaled an Arctia icebreaker, contracted by Shell,in Helsinki last year to demonstrate against Arctic drilling.
Hautala, a member of Finland's Green Party, said she thoughta state-owned firm should seek dialogue rather than legalaction.
"I feel, however, that it would be very difficult for me towork in this role and therefore I see that it is best solutionthat I resign," she said.
