Moscow, May 18, 2007 - Russian police today barred the chess grandmaster and opposition leader Garry Kasparov from boarding a plane, preventing him from taking part in a protest against the Vladimir Putin regime. Mr Kasparov's plane ticket and passport were confiscated by officers at Shermetyevo airport, in Moscow.

The move prevented him from flying to the city of Samara, where he had planned to take part in a protest to coincide with a summit between Russia and the EU.

Mr. Kasparov, a former world chess champion, leads the United Civil Front opposition party. He was detained by police at the airport for four hours along with other members of his party and western journalists. Eduard Limonov, a former leader of the outlawed National Bolshevik party, was also barred from the flight.

Marina Litvinovich, one of Mr Kasparov's aides, said police had given no explanation for their actions. "Clearly, the purpose is to prevent Garry and Limonov from making it to the march," she added.

Mr. Kasparov is a vocal critic of Mr Putin, and his party has helped organise a series of protest rallies, several of which were violently broken up by police. He was detained at an anti-Kremlin protest in Pushkin Square, Moscow, last month.

Some western observers had anticipated that the Russian authorities could take a less hardline approach to the planned protest in Samara, on the Volga River, because of the presence of the international media and EU ministers and officials.

Full story : http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2082933,00.html