The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Saint Petersburg

President Vladimir Putin Monday accused the United States of trying to "discredit" Russia's parliamentary elections by pressuring foreign observers to abandon their monitoring mission.

Putin made the accusation as his government came under sharp criticism over the weekend jailing of opposition leader and former chess champion Garry Kasparov during protests dispersed by riot police ahead of Sunday's elections.

On a campaign swing through his home town of Saint Petersburg, he said monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) cancelled a planned mission to Russia "on the recommendation of the American State Department."