Russian region calls off election after murder

MOSCOW, Oct 21 (Reuters) Electoral officials in Russia's far east called off a weekend run-off election at the last minute today after both runners agreed to withdraw in the aftermath of the murder of another candidate.

Dmitry Fotyanov, who came second in the initial round of the race for mayor of Dalnegorsk, near the Sea of Japan, was shot this week by unidentified assailants driving past in a minibus.

Demonstrators had staged several days of protests calling for tomorrow's run-off to be cancelled after the killing. Scuffles broke out earlier on Saturday after an attempt was made to walk out of the election commission headquarters with some ballots.

But officials had said that under electoral law they could not call off the vote unless both finalists -- independent first-round winner Alexander Terebilov and third-place finisher Vladimir Voinov, a businessman, agreed to stand down.

Russian television said both men did so only today night -- hours before polls were due to open. Pictures showed officials at election headquarters working into the night preparing notices to advise voters no poll would take place.

Fotyanov's United Russia party, which backs President Vladimir Putin, had described his death as a ''political murder''. It said he had confronted criminal groups and corrupt officials.

The Prosecutor General's office said this week it was looking into whether the murder was connected with his campaign.

The high-profile murders of a senior central banker and opposition journalist Anna Politkovskaya have raised fears of a return to political violence ahead of the 2008 presidential election when Putin has to step down.

Contract killings, a feature of political life in the first post-Soviet years, had become more rare under Putin, who has concentrated power in the Kremlin. Analysts say power struggles in towns like Dalnegorsk remain tense as rival business groups fight for control of local administrations.

REUTERS AB KP2100