Russian lawmaker quits parliament in property row

Moscow, Feb 20 (AP) A senior lawmaker from the pro-Kremlin party has resigned his seat in parliament after an anti-corruption campaigner alleged that he owns properties in Florida worth more than USD 2 million. Vladimir Pekhtin, chairman of the State Duma's ethics committee, announced his resignation at a parliament session today, saying that he does so in order to protect his party from the scandal. Copies of deeds and other legal documents revealed by Russian anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny indicated that Pekhtin together with his son own two condos in Miami Beach and a villa in Ormond Beach, Florida. Pekhtin has denied owning the property although he admitted that his signatures on the deeds were genuine. Last week he told Izvestia daily that he "owns practically no property abroad." (AP) NKP 02201420 NNNN