Russian Official May Be Fired Over Sex Video -- Tape Adds Wrinkle To Blocked Resignation

MOSCOW - Boris Yeltsin held an urgent meeting today with his prosecutor-general, who is at the center of a scandal that involves sex, lies, videotape and the reputations of some of Russia's most powerful figures.

Yeltsin summoned both the prosecutor, Yuri Skuratov, and Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov for talks at the Central Clinical Hospital, where the Russian president was recuperating from an ulcer. He was discharged from the hospital shortly after the talks.

The president was expected to decide whether to fire Skuratov.

Yesterday, the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, voted overwhelmingly to block Skuratov's resignation after the prosecutor claimed he had been forced out by political opponents. Skuratov initially said he resigned for health reasons.

Yeltsin and Primakov later issued a joint statement that appeared to condemn Skuratov, saying that "moral unscrupulousness and scheming are incompatible with the high post of prosecutor-general."

It wasn't clear what moral failings they had in mind. However, last night, the government TV channel showed excerpts from a secretly recorded video that showed a man resembling Skuratov having sex with two women identified as prostitutes.

Rumors for weeks

There have been rumors for weeks about the existence of such a tape, and Skuratov apparently referred to it yesterday when he told parliament that someone had gathered information about his private life "in a criminal manner."

The newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported today that someone had given members of the Federation Council copies of the tape.

The Kremlin press service, which speaks for Yeltsin, issued a statement today saying the president had asked the Russian Security Council to "check the reliability of information on actions which disgrace and discredit a prosecutor." The council said it would form a commission to investigate.

The ITAR-Tass news agency said Yeltsin was clearly referring to the videotape.

Affair damages Yeltsin?

Russian news accounts suggested the videotape might have backfired, stoking support for Skuratov in parliament. And several newspapers suggested the whole affair had further damaged Yeltsin, who used to enjoy strong support from the Federation Council and now is becoming an increasingly isolated figure in Russian politics.

Political analysts said the one-sided council vote to retain Skuratov - 142 to 6 - indicates that the ailing Yeltsin may be losing the last remnants of his political influence, since the council traditionally had been a strong supporter of the president.

"It's a big failure of Mr. Yeltsin's," said Sergei Markov, an analyst with the Institute of Political Science. "A terrible political defeat," said Andre Piontowsky, of the Center for Strategic Studies.

In a country mired in economic crisis, desperate to win the Western favor that might bring International Monetary Fund credits, the highest echelons of power are caught in a corrosive power struggle, where the motives are opaque and the tactics ruthless.

Skuratov submitted his resignation last month, one day after revealing that Russia's Central Bank had been funneling large chunks of its reserves through an obscure - and previously secret - offshore company.

It also came shortly after he had launched a high-profile corruption probe against several companies linked to billionaire Boris Berezovsky, the most influential of Russia's "oligarchs."

At about the same time, Russian news reports said Berezovsky had been secretly recording conversations of Yeltsin's family.

Moreover, the French newspaper Le Monde reported last month that Skuratov's office had asked Swiss authorities to search the records of a Swiss construction firm, Mabetex, which has handled extensive repairs to the Kremlin and the Russian legislature building.

Skuratov suggested to the Federation Council that the Central Bank inquiry touched a host of government officials and had uncovered suspect transactions involving high-interest government bonds known as GKOs. If the information shows insiders had enriched themselves illegally, he asked, "how can we not issue charges?"

"If some of them are (members of the lower house of parliament), two former vice prime ministers, former and incumbent ministers and their deputies, some of the Central Bank's high-ranking officials and other important figures? You can be sure they did their best to create an intolerable climate for the prosecutor general's office and me at its head," Skuratov said.

Yeltsin, 68, has suffered a series of ailments in recent years and had been at the Central Clinical Hospital since Feb. 27. Most of the day-to-day responsibilities of running the Russian government have been handled by Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov in recent months.

Despite calls for his ouster and an impending impeachment vote that is likely to fail in Russia's parliament, Yeltsin has insisted he will serve out his full term, which ends next year.

Information from The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Reuters is included in this report.