Black belt Putin asks judo coach to his inauguration

In addition to the high and mighty, Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his former judo coach and elementary school teacher to his inauguration today.

The Moscow political elite is jockeying for seats at the noon ceremony in the ornate Great Kremlin Place. It is smaller than the nearby Kremlin Palace of Congresses auditorium, where Boris Yeltsin was sworn in to a second term in 1996, increasing the competition for the 1500 prized invitations.

But Putin, elected to a four-year term on March 26, has made room for his former judo instructor Anatoly Rakhlin - whom he credits with having a great influence on him as a boy - the Interfax news agency reported. Putin is a judo black belt and still finds time to practise.

He has also invited his schoolteacher Vera Gurevich and boyhood friend Sergei Roldugin - who, according to a recent Putin biography, cruised the streets of St Petersburg with Putin in the future president's mufflerless Zaporozhets jalopy, singing over the engine noise.

Putin returned to Moscow yesterday from a holiday at the Black Sea resort of Sochi to prepare for the ceremony. He was to receive his presidential identification card yesterday from Alexander Veshnyakov, Russia's top election official, news agencies said. Putin may name his prime minister today as well, former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin told reporters on Friday. Chernomyrdin did not say who it would be, but ruled himself out.

Putin was serving as prime minister when Yeltsin's resignation made him acting president on December 31 last year. Who will be named as his successor has been the topic of intense media speculation, much of which has focused on First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, sent Putin inaugural greetings, praising his "resolution, responsibility, prudence and ability to heed the opinions of others". Alexy blessed Putin in December when he became acting president. The Segodnya newspaper has reported that human rights activists have urged the president to limit the patriarch's participation in inaugural ceremonies to preserve the principle of separation of church and state and avoid religious division.

Putin, a member of the Orthodox Church, has been frequently shown on television attending services of the country's majority faith, as have many other public officials. A Kremlin spokesman has said Alexy will be a guest, along with leaders of other faiths.

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