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Yak 42 lands safely after malfunction

March 11, 2000

MOSCOW (AP) -- Outspoken nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky launched his bid for the presidency Saturday, but his first campaign trip was marred when his plane had to make an emergency landing because of a malfunction.

The Yak-42 jet carrying Zhirinovsky landed safely on the airstrip at Novosibirsk, the first in a string of cities in his campaign tour through spots in Siberia, Russia's NTV television reported.

A malfunction occurred in the hydraulic system just before landing, the report said, showing footage of a grim-looking Zhirinovsky on the dark tarmac. An investigation was under way. Airport officials said it was not an unusual problem.

Zhirinovsky was registered Tuesday as one of 11 candidates for the March 26 election, after the Supreme Court overturned orders banning him from the race for not declaring property belonging to his son.

Campaigning by all candidates has been extremely slack because acting President Vladimir Putin is so far in the lead. He has been widely expected to win the presidency since he took over the Kremlin helm from Boris Yeltsin, who resigned Dec. 31.

On Saturday, Zhirinovsky started a campaign tour of Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Bratsk, Perm, Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Zhirinovsky, whose anti-Western tirades have gained him notoriety in Russia and abroad, came in third in 1991 presidential elections, but has lost much of his following in recent years and is not expected to fare well this time.

Meanwhile, Putin held informal talks in St. Petersburg with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday -- his first meeting with a Western leader since being named acting president.

Putin also met with World Bank President James Wolfensohn to discuss Russia's flailing economy and foreign investment.

Putin has said he is too busy being president to conduct an election campaign. But his opponents say he has an unfair advantage because of the daily media coverage he gets as president, especially from state-run TV channels.

Opinion polls show Putin -- admired for his hard-nosed, pragmatic image -- getting support from about 60 percent of voters, with his nearest challenger, Communist Gennady Zyuganov, recording about 20 percent.

Copyright ) 2000 Associated Press Information Services, all rights reserved.

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-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 12, 2000