Kim Jong Il Congratulates V. Putin on His Birthday

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 08, 2002

Kim Jong Il Congratulates V. Putin on His Birthday

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Kim Jong Il, Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, congratulated Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on his 50th birthday. He, in a congratulatory message sent on Oct. 6, extended sincere congratulations and warm greetings to Putin.

Putin Gets A Crocodile And a Growl For Birthday

Staff Writer Politicians, students and diamond merchants sent birthday greetings to President Vladimir Putin as he turned 50 on Monday.

Putin, who attended a CIS summit in Chisinau on Monday, was inundated with gifts, from a crystal crocodile to a copy of a medieval crown and a picture of ultranationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

Russian politicians rushed to associate themselves with the president on his birthday, and the Russian delegation in Chisinau was somewhat top-heavy.

Tagging along with Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov for the trip was Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev and even Press Minister Mikhail Lesin.

Siberian students sent cards written in German, although hardly stretching the language of Goethe. "Always be young and handsome. I love you," wrote one student, according to Russian television.

Other gifts included a man who changed his name to Putin and a Putin look-alike who offered the president a Mercedes with a Volga engine.

The Kremlin press service insisted that all presents would not go directly to the president but become state property.

Thousands of birthday cards, organized by the pro-Putin Unity party, also flooded the Kremlin, many with requests for help.

It appeared that the only person who had failed to give Putin a gift was his wife, Lyudmila. When asked Monday in Moldova what he had gotten from his wife, Putin said he didn't know yet.

Putin flew back to Moscow on Monday night for a private party with his family.

Source: Agencies

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