Putin quizzed over Russian deaths

VLADIMIR Putin, the Russian president, told his people yesterday that he would retain influence after he steps down in 2008, his strongest signal yet that he plans to take on another high-profile role in politics.

In his fifth question-and-answer session with the Russian people since he assumed power in 2000, Mr Putin, 54, fended off speculation that he might be considering a way to serve a third term in office after 2008.

He is constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term, but supporters and regional groups have called for a change in the law to allow him to stay in power.

Soberly dressed and emphatic in his replies, Mr Putin exuded a man-of-the-people image in the TV phone-in show, fielding questions on economic prospects, social welfare, pensions, transport infrastructure and the environment.

But one questioner asked about the recent murders of Andrei Kozlov, the leading Central Bank regulator, and Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist - killings that raised new fears Russia was returning to the gangland-style violence of the 1990s.

Mr Putin said: "The obligation of the state is to bring any such [murder] investigation to the end."

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen prime minister who has the backing of Mr Putin's administration, is widely suspected of involvement in Politkovskaya's murder, but the Kremlin has not commented on any such link.

Mr Putin stuck by his commitment not to tinker with the constitution and stay on after 2008 "even though I like the work".

But he went on: "Even after I no longer have presidential powers I think that I will be able to preserve the most important thing that is dear to any politician: your trust. Using this, we can together influence life in our country and guarantee that it develops in a continuous manner."

Mr Putin, a former spy now hugely popular in Russia but accused by liberals of undermining democratic values, has said he reserved the right to name the person he wants to succeed him - making that person's election a virtual certainty in 2008.

Later, when quizzed by journalists, he refused to go any further on who might follow him as president. "When the time comes, I will talk about this," he said.

Dmitry Medvedev, the first deputy prime minister, and Sergei Ivanov, the defence minister, are possible successors, although many commentators say a surprise candidate could still emerge some time next year.

Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a political analyst, said many of Mr Putin's backers would remain in government after he leaves, ensuring he will be able to affect policy in some form.

"Vladimir Putin will remain an important as well as influential figure because he will remain a member of this 'Politburo' which now is running the country," she said.

Mr Putin was clearly more at ease handling questions from his own people than he is on foreign trips when he often comes across as prickly and defensive when facing critical questions.

During the phone-in that lasted more than two hours, he jotted down notes, referred to questioners by name and recited arcane statistics such as the length of a highway and the amount of property tax that ought to be paid on a country house near St Petersburg.

Correspondents from the state-run television networks chose questioners from among small crowds in towns and cities around the vast country.

A few of the callers touched on simmering foreign policy controversies. Asked about North Korea's nuclear test on 9 October, Mr Putin called it "inadmissible", and said: "The way out of the current situation is to return to six-party talks." He added that pressuring North Korea could result in an impasse.

Amid worsening ties with Georgia, Mr Putin insisted Russia was not seeking to incorporate two Georgian separatist regions in which most citizens have been granted Russian citizenship.