Thousands file past body of slain Russian journalist

Thousands of mourners, including Western ambassadors, gathered on Tuesday at the funeral of Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent reporter and critic of President Vladimir Putin whose murder fueled international condemnation.

Politkovskaya, 48, was shot dead on Saturday at her apartment block in central Moscow in a killing prosecutors linked to her work.

She won prominence in Russia for her vigorous defense of human rights and criticism of the government's policies, in particular its conduct of a brutal war against separatists in Chechnya.

Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dresden that the murder was an unacceptable crime which would be punished.

Merkel told reporters Putin had told her he aimed to do everything possible to clear up the murder. Politkovskaya's death drew condemnation from world leaders, including President Bush, and international organizations who demanded a thorough investigation.

French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday sent a letter to Politkovskaya's two children. "The hateful murder of your mother ... has shocked me just as it has shocked all the French and all those who defend press freedom," Chirac said.

"You should understand how important it is to France that everything be done to insure justice is done and that the murderers of your mother be found and punished."

Foreign policy expert

Andreas Schockenhoff, foreign policy expert for Merkel's conservatives in parliament, said Politkovskaya's murder was "a serious setback for the development of democracy in Russia."

Her murder has highlighted problems faced by the media in Russia, where the Kremlin has centralized political power under Putin, fuelling Western concerns it was backtracking on democracy. Dozens of Politkovskaya's colleagues, public figures and admirers of her work gathered at a cemetery on the outskirts of Moscow for the funeral.

No high-ranking Russian officials could be seen at the ceremony.

"She was a unique woman in today's Russia, which has only a small bunch of honest people in politics and journalism," said Nikolai Smirnov, an architect from St Petersburg who flew to Moscow to pay his respects to his favorite author.

Police are still looking for clues as to who killed Politkovskaya. Many politicians and colleagues of the journalist have described her murder as a political murder, although views differ widely over who might have been behind it.

"Unfortunately, this is the end of an era for Russian journalism and I don't know what will happen to it now that she is dead," Smirnov said, cradling a bunch of red carnations from the wind and pouring rain.

(Reuters)