It happened shortly before Putin's visit to Germany, a country he loves, and so he was not expected to follow the protocol, which requires trite words about friendship and understanding between Russians and Germans. The first thing he had to do after talking with U.S. President George W. Bush on the phone was to speak about the journalist's murder.

I don't know why he did not do it before going to Dresden. I can assume that he is made of flesh and blood, not iron, which would explain his restraint on the issue. A public statement immediately after the murder could even have been considered hypocritical, because Anna criticized not only his policy, but also him as an individual.

This is why his statement in Dresden is so important, and not only because he spoke in reply to a direct question from Chancellor Angela Merkel. His words show that he was thinking hard about the murder, and that it shocked him.

Some of his statement could have been omitted, but the final words about an "abominable crime" sounded very personal and even a bit guilty. Dresden gave Putin a mixed welcome. Some people held posters accusing him of suppressing democracy, whereas others offered heartfelt greetings.

Before earning an academic title and becoming a well known poet, Mikhail Lomonosov studied at Marburg, which reveres his memory. Putin had his Dresden. The city authorities have not yet mounted plaques on park benches commemorating his time there, but he is well remembered in the beer hall he used to frequent. In fact, many people here claim to have been friends with the future Russian president and are proud of that fact.

Officially, Putin's visit to Dresden and meeting with Merkel was part of the Russian-German forum "St. Petersburg Dialogue", which he had initiated jointly with Gerhard Schroeder. There are not many meetings of this kind in international practice, but this forum stands out even among those that do exist. The leaders of the two countries are patrons of this event, whose participants openly discuss major issues of bilateral relations and global politics.

Gas has become a key word in Russian-German discussions in the past two years. Moscow has made Berlin an offer it can't refuse: it has invited it to participate in building a gas pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic Sea directly to Germany, which should become the main conduit for gas to Western Europe.

Putin has shown Merkel an enticing picture, promising Germany up to 90 billion cubic meters of gas annually. If his promise becomes reality, Western Europe will become dependent on Russia, which will in turn depend on Western Europe to keep up its image as a reliable supplier (last winter's gas troubles with Ukraine showed how easily a reputation that took decades to develop can be destroyed).

The promise eased Putin's way to the difficult part of the visit, the Shtokman gas condensate project. The Germans suspected that their participation hung in the balance because Moscow has grown economically stronger and is no longer satisfied with such joint projects as Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin 2, or Western offers regarding Shtokman.

So, when German businessmen told Putin he had not lived up to their expectations, the president was shocked into silence. But then he recovered and said: "Gazprom analyzed all the offers. It did not want investment, but an asset swap. None of the foreign companies offered assets commensurate with their potential involvement in the development of the Shtokman reserves."

This statement seems to cover all aspects of the problem. Putin remains true to his policy of strengthening state control of national resources. I fully agree with The Washington Post in that Russia "continues to assert its position as a global energy power". This sounds scary to the West, but although the Kremlin is criticized for many things, nobody has so far proved that its policy is irresponsible.

German business is preparing to take up the Russian challenge, and producers of equipment are lining up at Gazprom's office. The process has started.

Can Justice Come From Russia
by Anne Dececco - UPI Correspondent Washington (UPI) Oct 11 - The murder of Anna Politkovskaya has resulted in international alarm as rallies for an autonomous enquiry into her shooting continue to take place in major cities worldwide. Attendance at her funeral Tuesday morning in Moscow numbered over a thousand people.

"Last night we gathered to protest against this hideous murder and to ask for an independent investigation," said Elsa Vidal, Head of Europe and Post Soviet Countries Desk for Reporters Without Borders. "Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:30 pm we will rally again, in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with other organizations. It will be a tribute to her work."

Politkovskaya, 48, was found dead in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building at 5:10 pm Saturday, Oct. 7, after having been fatally shot. According to police reports, she was shot in the head and chest, which has sparked suspicion that it might have been a contract killing, possibly ordered by Russian officials or by the Prime Minister of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Politkovskaya was a high-profile journalist famous for her criticism of Putin's government and of Kadyrov. She was said to be working on a story with accompanying photos that would uncover the torture of people living in Chechnya. She was also author of "Putin's Russia," a book that audaciously details the lack of civil liberties in the country.

"She was a very fearless and outspoken woman who received many threats on her life before. It's a great loss to Russian journalism," Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation said. "She was a star reporter with a very clear opposition standing. So I think it's a political and a human rights issue."

Politkovskaya's murder is the latest in a long series of events that signal the repression of journalists who crusade for human rights and social justice in Russia. In September, Central Bank official Andrei Kozlov, who had led a campaign against corruption, was killed in Moscow, and in July 2004, Paul Klebnikov, editor of Forbes Russia who wrote about corruption in the Russian government as well as the war in Chechnya, was fatally shot. In addition, Adrei Babitsky, journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained by Russian officials for over a month in 2000.

The Prosecutor General, Yuri Chaika has sworn to investigate the matter, but international organizations such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders call for an investigation to be carried out independent of the Russian government.

"Human rights really doesn't exist in terms of journalists reporting in Russia," New York Director of Reporters Without Borders Tala Dowlatshahi said. She made reference to the fact that in Russia many independent newspapers have been shut down, that the Kremlin or government associations control the TV stations, and that work permits for foreign journalists have been directly refused. "The growing violence is compounded by a climate of total impunity which forces journalists to censor themselves."

Dowlatshahi added that past events have proven that any and all discussion of Chechnya will result in repression.

In a phone conversation with President Bush Monday, Putin promised that officials would do everything possible to get to the bottom of the killing, according to the Washington Post. His comments to Bush are said to be his first remarks on the murder, and only Tuesday, three days after the killing, did he make the first public statement.

"I think the international community has been complicit in the erosion of human rights. We on the outside have done very little. In our own pursuit of security we have eroded norms of human rights... We leave isolated voices like Politkovskaya's," said Sarah Mendelson, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Suspicion that the murder is related to Russian officials is reinforced by the fact that Politkovskaya was due to publish an article on Chechnya for the newspaper where she worked, Novaya Gazeta.

"As far as I know she was planning to write about Kadyrov's people who torture people in order to get confessions from them for anti-government activities," the Los Angeles Times reported deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta, Vitaly Yaroshevsky as saying. "I don't know whether she managed to complete her story. But if she did, or if there are some drafts left, we will certainly publish it. We know that she had testimonies from those who were tortured, and photos of them."

If an independent investigation is to take place into Politkovskaya's murder, Russia would have to agree to it. And that is not a given.

(Boris Kaimakov is a political commentator for RIA Novosti. This article was reprinted with permission from the news agency.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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