Posted on 08/23/2005 9:29:30 AM PDT by lizol
Report: Kasparov slams Russian authorities
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 (Moscow):
Former world chess champion and Kremlin foe Garry Kasparov was delayed while entering Russia over the weekend due to a technical problem in passport control.
Kasparov, who has turned to politics and become an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, said he was held up for about a half-hour at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.
He had suggested on Monday that authorities may have wanted to keep him out of Russia.
"A failure in the technical control system caused a delay," Interfax quoted the news service of the Federal Security Service as saying.
"Confiscating his passport or creating other obstacles for his entry into the Russian Federation were not our intention."
Political moves
Kasparov retired from the game earlier this year to form a political movement aimed rallying support against Putin and his allies before the 2008 presidential election.
He has called Putin a dictator.
Last month, he accused officials of interfering in his four-day trip to the troubled Caucasus region in southern Russia, denying permission for his chartered plane to land in one city.
He said officials were conspiring to prevent him from meeting local residents and organizing hooligans to throw eggs and tomatoes at him. (AP)
Kasparov is pretty durn popular over there in Russia isnt he? I think Putin has a tough opponent on his hands that he cant just readily assasinate like so often occurs in communist countries (lets not kid ourselves, Putin is a die hard commie under his democratic robe).
Though I would like to see Gary become the President someday I just don't see how that's going to be possible.
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