Free Republic

DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday to hunt down the killers of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, saying he had information they wanted to whip up anti-Russian feelings across the world. Questions about the contract-style killing, which has drawn global condemnation, dominated a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that also touched on business and energy issues. Putin did not elaborate on his information about the killers of Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of the president and Russia's war in Chechnya. "We must be clear that it was a dreadful and unacceptable crime which cannot be allowed...

Putin wants hostages' killers hunted down By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer 29 minutes ago MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's special services to hunt down and "destroy" the killers of four Russian diplomats in Iraq, the Kremlin said. Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Federal Security Service — the main successor to the Soviet KGB — later said that everything would be done to ensure that the killers "do not escape from responsibility," the Interfax news agency reported. "The president has ordered the special forces to take all necessary measures to find and destroy the criminals...