Report: Putin assassination plot thwarted

MOSCOW -- Security forces have foiled a Chechen-linked plot to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, state television reported yesterday in a broadcast likely to boost support for his bid to regain the presidency.

Other candidates questioned the timing of the report, just days before Sunday's presidential election and as Putin and his United Russia party face unprecedented protests following a scandal-marred parliamentary election in December. The Communist Party candidate called the assassination report a "cheap trick."

Putin has portrayed himself as a protector of Russia's national interests and has counted the victory over Chechen separatist rebels as one of the key achievements of his 12-year rule. The state television report casting Putin as a terrorist target could draw public sympathy and help secure his victory by a wider margin.

The report, which included two televised confessions, said suspects in the assassination plot have been arrested in Ukraine and were linked to a Chechen rebel leader who has claimed responsibility for other terror attacks.

Putin, president from 2000 to 2008 and prime minister since then, is running for a third, now six-year presidential term. He is expected to win easily against four Kremlin-approved challengers, but a wave of protests since December's parliamentary election has undermined his image as a strong, popular leader.

Channel One said the suspects, acting on instructions from Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, were preparing to kill Putin in Moscow immediately after the election. It said they were arrested in Odessa after an accidental blast as they tried to make explosives. -- AP