Russian Prime Minister says that he does not fear any assassination attempts

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday he doesn’t fear assassination attempts, a day after state television reported that security forces had foiled a plot to kill him. Russia’s Channel One reported Monday that plotters
linked to a Chechen rebel warlord were planning to assassinate Mr. Putin with powerful explosives after Sunday’s presidential election. Some of Mr. Putin‘s rivals in the vote dismissed the report as a campaign trick intended to boost support for Mr. Putin‘s
bid to regain the presidency.

Mr. Putin said Tuesday in his first comment on the plot that he had been informed about it but wasn’t intimidated. “People in my position have to live with it,” he said on a trip to the southern city of Astrakhan. “It would be
impossible to carry on if you fear that. Let them fear us.” Mr. Putin was quoted by the Russian newswires as saying that he made no changes to his schedule despite the threat. “Such things shouldn’t be an obstacle, and they will not be,” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. Putin, who was Russia’s president from 2000 to 2008 and has been 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 tainted parliamentary election has undermined his image as a strong, popular leader.

Channel One’s report, which included televised confessions, said the suspects, acting on instructions from Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, were preparing to kill Mr. Putin in Moscow immediately after the vote. It said the suspects
were arrested in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa earlier this month following an accidental explosion in January while they were trying to manufacture explosives at a rented apartment.

Mr. Putin has postured as a strong protector of Russia’s national interests and has counted the victory over Chechen separatist rebels as one of the key achievements of his rule. The reported plot casting Mr. Putin as a terrorist
target could draw public sympathy and help secure his victory by a wider margin.

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Posted by Hamza Jahangir on Feb 29 2012. Filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry