Russian opposition holds rally, but scraps march

MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) Anti-Kremlin protesters called off a march through Moscow today after city authorities refused to sanction the planned route, fearing clashes with police after a protest two months ago ended in mass arrests.

An authorised rally of about 1,500 people, called by the ''Other Russia'' movement uniting both liberals and neo-Bolsheviks, ended peacefully at the central Pushkin Square.

The protesters criticised what they see as the erosion of democracy under President Vladimir Putin and called on voters to back an alternative candidate in next year's presidential poll.

Putin, widely popular while the economy is fast growing on the back of booming energy exports, has denounced opposition groups as ''marginals''. He has said he will remain active in public life when his term ends in March.

Chess grandmaster and fierce Putin critic Garry Kasparov, who is one of ''Other Russia'' leaders, complained of a ''hawkish line'' in the interior ministry which had blocked a march through the city and only allowed the rally to take place.

''We had to make the difficult choice of either pushing the crowds into the police ranks or asking them to walk away quietly, so we preferred the latter. We decided against having any clashes today,'' Kasparov said.

Security forces appeared to outnumber protesters, and in addition to regular police in short-sleeved shirts, hundreds of riot police waited in nearby buses. Water cannons were also on standby, but kept out of sight of the protest.

At a similar weekend protest in St Petersburg, both a rally and a protest march were sanctioned, leading opposition activists to speculate that authorities wanted to avoid clashes while the city was hosting an international investment forum.

Waving flags for small Russian opposition groups, as well as the national flag, the good natured crowd clapped and cheered in the sunshine as speaker after speaker denounced Putin.

''We need a new kind of politics in our country,'' said Viktor Gudymov, a chemical engineering student, who was attending what he said was his first opposition rally.

Deriding the rally as a gathering of the insane, a group of pro-Putin activists dressed in medical gowns were led out of the rally by police. A truck blaring taped laughter at high volume circled the venue to heckle the opposition speeches.

REUTERS DS RAI2252