Reuters AlertNet Lite - Pro-Kremlin Russian mayoral candidate shot dead

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Pro-Kremlin Russian mayoral candidate shot dead

19 Oct 2006 14:10:39 GMT
Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A Russian mayoral candidate from the main pro-Kremlin party was gunned down in the Far East on Thursday in what his party said was a "political murder."

Dmitry Fotyanov was shot in Russia's Far Eastern town of Dalnegorsk by unidentified assailants driving past in a minibus. He died later from wounds in hospital, the Prosecutor General's office said in a statement.

Fotyanov, from the United Russia party which supports President Vladimir Putin, came second in the first round of voting on Oct. 8 and was preparing for a tight race against his independent rival in the second round on Sunday.

The Prosecutor General's office said it was looking into whether the murder was connected with the elections. United Russia officials had no doubts.

"The only version for Dmitry Fotyanov's killing is a political murder carried out to get rid of an election candidate," senior United Russia parliamentary Vasily Usoltsev said in remarks posted on the party Web site www.edinros.ru

Usoltsev did not mention any suspects but said that Fotyanov confronted criminal groups and corrupt officials in Dalnegorsk.

The high-profile murders of a senior central banker and opposition journalist Anna Politkovskaya have raised fears of a return to political violence ahead of the 2008 presidential election when Putin has to step down.

Contract killings, a feature of Russian political life in the chaos which followed the fall of the Soviet Union, had become more rare under Putin, who has focused political power in the Kremlin.

Analysts said that power struggles in small towns like Dalnegorsk remained tense as rival business groups fight for control of the local administrations.

Fotyanov will now be replaced by a local businessman who came third in the first round of the vote.

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Last updated:Thu Oct 19 14:12:48 2006