GERMANY: Russian president Vladimir Putin was greeted with chants of "Murderer! Murderer!" in Dresden yesterday as the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya overshadowed talks with chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Russian leader's return visit to Dresden - where he once spied as a KGB agent - turned sour as soon as he stepped out of his limousine to jeers from protesters and a sign reading: "Murderer! You're not welcome here."
Faced with questions about the death of his most outspoken journalist critic, Mr Putin condemned the murder and belittled the dead journalist's reputation in one breath.
"It was an atrocity, a disgusting crime - one that cannot go unpunished - of a journalist who was a sharp critic of the ruling powers in Russia. But though she was well known in human rights circles and in the West, the influence of her writings on political circles was negligible," said Mr Putin, calling the killing an attempt to create an "anti-Russian feeling" in the world.
"Her murder is directed against us. This murder damages Russia and the established powers in Russia much more than the writings of Mrs Politkovskaya."
Ms Merkel said she was "shocked" by the murder and that she had told the Russian leader that it was "from our perspective self-evident that press freedom belongs to democratic development".
Outside the press conference, members of a human rights organisation held up a massive banner reading, "Mr President, you are bringing death to Chechnya" - reflecting the critical writings of Politkovskaya about the Kremlin's policies in the Caucus.
"With [ her] murder, Chechnya has lost its last advocate in Russia," said Tilman Zülch of the Society for Endangered Peoples. Unless a culprit is found quickly, he said, the "suspicion will grow that the Russian secret service had their hand in this, to remove one of its most fervent critics".
Energy policy and ever closer business ties between the two countries headed this year's annual "Petersburger Dialogue" talks in Dresden yesterday.
At the talks, Mr Putin called for closer trade relations between Russia and the EU, and hinted at his wish for a free trade agreement.
"All of Europe needs our energy," he said in a newspaper interview.
He announced Russia would double to nearly 100 billion cubic metres annually the quantity of gas it exports to Europe on completion of a new undersea pipeline between Russian and Germany.
This pipeline will make Germany the "largest distributor of gas in Europe for the next 50 years", he said.