Bush, Putin clash on democracy

ST PETERSBURG: US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday clashed on democracy, with Putin flatly dismissing his guest's advice that Moscow be more like like Iraq.

"We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly," Putin said jokingly as the two leaders held a news conference, drawing audience laughter.

Moments earlier, Bush had declared that it was wrong to "expect Russia to look like the United States", but pressed Putin on issues like the role of an independent media and
suggested that war-torn Iraq might be a model to follow.

"I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq, where there is a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our
country would hope Russia would do the same thing," said Bush.

The US President said he understood Putin's argument that a Russian-style democracy was the best  way forward for the country and added that his Russian host shared with me some very interesting thoughts that I think would surprise Americans.

"He's willing to listen, but he also explains to me he doesn't want anyone telling him how to run his government," Bush said, adding: "He was elected."

The Russian President said he was prepared to talk with Bush or any other foreign leader about development of democracy in Russia, provided the discussion were held in a friendly and objective manner.

"No one knows better than we do how to strengthen our state," Putin said.

"But we also know that we cannot do this without democracy. We will of course do this on our own."