PRESIDENT PUTIN warned Britain and the United States yesterday against “squeezing out” Russian firms from the reconstruction of Iraq.

As he prepared to become the first Russian leader to make a state visit to Britain for almost 130 years, Mr Putin said that he expected contracts signed by Russian companies with the regime of Saddam Hussein to exploit Iraqi oil reserves to be honoured.

“Our position is based on the primacy of the law,” he told Breakfast with Frost on BBC One. “We agree that the future Iraqi government must make its own decisions on some of those projects, but the Iraqi side must fulfil its obligations in compliance with the law.

“We will be insisting that some of those projects do go ahead. We think it is quite justified in terms of current international law. We have every reason to count on the support of international legal bodies.”

Mr Putin said that there were also strong practical reasons for the coalition partners to involve Russian firms in the task of rebuilding Iraq. “The situation in Iraq is very difficult indeed and it becomes even more difficult if we fail to understand that we need to work together to get the situation back to normal.

“A large section of Iraq’s industry and economy is based on Soviet and Russian technology — not the most advanced but nevertheless still functioning. That means that the assets that are there and need to be put back will need spare parts, technical support and so on. The cheapest and most efficient way to do all that is to involve Russian experts.”

Mr Putin, who publicly mocked Tony Blair on his last visit to Moscow over the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, hinted that he had information about the whereabouts of Saddam.

Asked by Sir David Frost if he had intelligence not available to the West, he replied: “You may be right about that, but you and everyone who follows developments in the Middle East know how complex these problems are. I don’t believe it is simply a matter of killing somebody or catching somebody and putting them in prison.”

While acknowledging their differences over Iraq, Mr Putin emphasised that he enjoyed good relations with Mr Blair. “We believe it’s possible to tell each other what we actually think rather than what our diplomats sometimes advise us.”

Mr Putin said that Russia had concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme but made clear that he would not allow the issue to damage relations. “We have a system of relations between our two countries and we do not intend to lose our positions in Iran,” he said.

“We know that some Western European companies closely co-operate in Iran in that (nuclear) sphere and supply it with equipment that is of dual (military-civil) use, to say the least. That is why we shall oppose the use of the nonproliferation issue.”

• While Mr Blair prepares to strengthen Anglo-Russian relations, a team of MPs managed by Lawrie McMenemy, the former coach of Southampton, and Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, plans to humiliate its opposite numbers today. The MPs’ football team, on a two-year unbeaten run, takes on the Russian deputies at Upton Park, West Ham’s ground.

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