the 55-year-old was deputy prime minister under president boris yeltsin and one of the kremlin's most vocal critics. president vladimir putin has taken personal charge of the investigation saying he'll do all he can to bring the gunmen to justice. he was an outspoken critic of the russia's involves in the conflict of ukraine and helped to plan a march against the war planned for sunday. it now will likely be dominated by protests for his murder. rory, what can you tell us more about the reaction to the killing of boris nemtsov? >> well, i think you can scarcely find a more symbolic place of all of russia for a politically-tinged murder. the wall over my shoulder, the kremlin walls protect russia's political power structure that power structure that boris nemtsov criticize sod often. it comes at a sensitive time if the not just politically because of the current stand off between the east and west over the war in ukraine but on sunday, as you mentioned there is a rally plan an opposition rally and boris nemtsov was one of the key organizers of that. this like any murder, is namely a ve

but instead yeltsin chose a little-known spy chief vladimir putin. the opposition recently found it harder and harder to make itself heard in an increasingly patriotic, anti-western russia. president vladimir putin offered his condolences and called the murder a provocation. he ordered a full investigation into the death. but those who know the opposition leader said that the government did nothing to protect him when he received threats. before he died he was working on a report that he believed proved that russia has been directly involved in the separatist rebellion in eastern ukraine and called the government inefficiency and corruption. and the rally they saw was a voice attempting to hold the government accountable. >> the jailed leader of the kurdistan workers party called on it the pkk talked about laying down its weapon. the message was shared with the public by the tourish deputy prime minister during a press conference. we have reports now from istanbul. >> the jailed leader of the pkk says that this is an historic call to replace an arm s

but instead yeltsin chose little-known spy chief vladimir putin. and nemtsov became one of opposition. the opposition he fought so hard for of found it harder and harder to make itself heard in an increasingly patriotic anti- anti-west russia. >> many call the murder a provocation. he ordered a full investigation into nemtsov's death. but those who knew the opposition leader said that the government did nothing to protect him when he received threats. before he died, nemtsov was working on a proper that he believed proved russia was directly involved in the separatist rebellion in eastern ukraine. he also criticized what he called the government's inefficiency and corruption. the opposition wants a march planned for sunday to be a rally for a voice that wanted to hold the government accountable. >> the italian navy is getting ready to carry out a military exercise off the coast of libya. italy is an underwater pipeline, oil pipeline that carries crude from western libya to sicily. in recent months there have been attacks by gunmen on oil installati

but instead yeltsin chose a little-known spy chief vladimir putin. but the opposition he fought so ladder for had recently found it harder and hard for make itself heard in an increasingly patriotic and anti-western russia. president vladimir putin offered his condolences and called the murder a provocation. he ordered a full investigation into nemtsov's death. he who knew the opposition leader said that the government did nothing with the threats. the opposition wants a march planned for sunday to now be a rally to be for a man that they saw more than a voice holding politicians accountable. >> the italian navy is getting ready to carry out a military exercise off the shores of libya. it will do drills on monday. libya has an underwater oil. line that carries crude from western libya to sicily. there have been attacks on oil installations forcing ports to shut down. still with italy thousands of right wing activists are rallying in rome. supporters are demanding the government to do more to keep out immigrants. there are rival protests under way as

and designated as yeltsin's chosen successor. in those three years in the interval, putin moved from a succession that a every single semiof the way -- step of the way had to do with collecting information, protecting the information and creating eventually, a monopoly on this incriminating especially financial information, economic information. now, in that situation you need to make people vulnerable. you cannot have clean people. a clean person, a person who doesn't commit a crime, you have no leverage over them. so every single person every single individual who is in the putinen regime in any way shape -- putin regime in any way, shape or fashion including in the private corporations in russia is under that kind of pressure. and they know it. and they would never be able to go against putin. the main -- the top guys at the very top the the oligarchs -- the ones he inherited by the way, he learned quickly to control, he essentially offered them a deal whereby he would protect them against the population and against b his coll

and designated as yeltsin's chosen successor. in those three years removed from a succession of positions that all every single step of the way had to do with collecting information for protecting the information, and creating eventually a monopoly on this incriminating especially financial information economic information. now in that situation you need to make people vulnerable. you cannot have clean people. a clean person who does not put a crime, you have know leverage over. so every single person, single person, and i'm not exaggerating, every single individual who is in the regime in any way, shape or fashion including fashion including in the private company and corporations in russia is under that kind of pressure pressure, and they know it. and they would never be able to go against putin. the top guys at the very top, the oligarchs, the ones who he inherited he learned quickly to control. he offered them a deal whereby you a protection against the population and against his colleagues in the kgb call of them are quite e

he rose to prominence under former president boris yeltsin. there has been the call for a transparent investigation into his death. >> rory challands. >> kamal, those wall it's over the shoulder there are the kremlin walls and surround the vertical power structure. it is that vertical power structure that boris nemtsov criticized so often. this murder comes at a sensitive time. it's sensitive not just geo geopolitically because of the east-west stand off over the war in ukraine but there was supposed to be a rally that boris nemtsov was supposed to be at. this will is human tragedy that has touched the hearts of mean here. >> the place where boris nemtsov died is now a shrine. this murder has shocked many. >> it's a tragedy for the whole country. >> the people like him are important in any country especially here. people who can follow their views and who are honest. >> it's hard for me to talk about it. i feel sorry for him as a person. he was murdered. i don't know if it was a provocation or not but it doesn't matter. this person was a part

. >> he was considered to be a potential successor of the former president, yeltsin.chosed a spy chief called putin and numbemanja'stsov nemosov has found it. >> so this was nolo-level job. dignitaries came with a message that the way russia investigates this crime will be watched closely in capitals far away. >> the ambassadors, we gather to pay respects and lay site of the killing of mr. boris mensotv. >> what do you think is an important thing to do? >> it's a brutal murder. >>> he could become a sacrificial victim. >> that's a theory dismissed by the opposition leaders. they say the kremlin is responsible for his murder. maybe not directly but at the very least, because the kremlin has created the political environment in which it could happen. rory challands, moscow. >> ukraine's president is mourning the loss of boris nemsov saying he was a bridge between ukraine and russia. forces continued withdrawing as part of a peace deal with pro-russia separatists. rebels say they have shifted the bulk of their heavy we hopeonry on the front line but isolated clashes cont

the 55-year-old served as a deputy prime minister under russia's first president boris yeltsin. he was shot dead in central moscow hours ahead of a massive opposition rally. we go to rory challands live in moscow. i don't know if you are near the scene - you'll tell us that - but a thorough investigation promised by vladimir putin, yet he was a critic of vladimir putin. are there those that believe it could be a fair investigation? >> well it depend who you ask. certainly the people that have come down here to where boris nemtsov was shot - they would believe that an investigation is going to be essentially a whitewash, and have come to pay their respects leave flowers. vladimir putin is saying it will be a thorough investigation. investigators are coming out with various theories at the moment about why boris nemtsov may have been shot. maybe it was a personal issue, maybe he was a man with many girlfriends, one could have become overly jealous, maybe it was something to do with islamic extremism, that possibly it was to do with ukraine, that he had varies friends, powerful bus

but instead yeltsin chose a little-known spy chief vladimir putin. the opposition that he fought for found it harder and and harder in russia. vladimir putin ordered a full investigation into nemtsov's death. but those who knew him said that the government did nothing when he received threats. before he died he had been working on a report that he said proved that russia was involved in the separatist movement in ukraine and had evidence of inefficiency and corruption. many now want to hold a rally for the man they saw as a voice holding the government accountable. >> rory, the obvious question is who did it and why? any thoughts on motive at this point? >> this is an opinion that you get different answers depending on who you are. the opposition people feel certain that there is a direct political motivation for this killing. there are not many people absolutely accusing the kremlin, but many people are saying that the atmosphere that the kremlin has created in russia, has engendered an environment by which a murder of this sort could happen. i was

he had served as deputy prime minister under former president boris yeltsin and was governor of a city, nisninakarov. he was murdered just two days before a major opposition rally he was due to take part in. >> mr. nim nemtsov i would say was one of three top opposition leaders in russia. he has been a personal nemesis of mr. putin, one of the most daring and outspoken leaders. he personally organized most of the option opposition rallies going back to at least 2011. >> the president is taking the investigation into nemtsov's murder under his personal control. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> l you thank you very muchthank you very much indeed for being with us. what are your thoughts on why or who might have killed him? >> of course now about moscow, circulate quite a lot of russians about the reasons why boris himself was killed. me personally i'm sharing political reasons because he was a political figure. one of two or three main political leaders that criticize vladimir putin and russian government this year. but i don't think that he is so popular that, in threaten the regime thr

. >> he served as deputy prime minister under former president boris yeltsin. after 2003 he helped establish and led several opposition parties. he was killed just prior to a opposition rally he was supposed to take part in. >> he has been a personal nemesis plaintiff putin one of the most daring and outspoken leaders. he personally organized most of the opposition rallies going back to 2011. >> russian president you you vladimir putin has condemned the murder. >> fred, this is clearly caused uproar not least because nemtsov said in a recent interview that he feared he would be killed. because he was opposing vladimir putin's policies in ukraine. >> well, yes he has been critical on all ronts. all fronts. as your report said, he is not a typical street agitator, he is a household name in russia and a member of the russian establishment himself even though he was on the outs. and his murder definitely is in itself a destabilizing factor in this country. it shows under the surface under those amazing public opinion ratings that putin has, this is a lawless and ev

boris nemtsov was russia's deputy prime minister under boris yeltsin.ussia. very critical of putin. he was always afraid including in recent weeks, for his own security. >> no question. the more the details come out, the more shocking. shot seven to eight times from a car. it looks like a gangland assassination. it's government security services or gangs that have guns. the impression among critics is something like this happens, that someone must have given the order. of course there's no evidence of that. there is real reason to have fear if you are a member of the opposition or a critic of the government because in the past many of these people have lost their lives. i covered the case of a man living in london but he was poisoned with radioactive materials on the streets of london. one of the people who was implicated in the murder ended up a member of the russian duma. you have this kind of past which creates the fear for members of the opposition. as you note wolf a couple of weeks before this killing, nemtsov himself said he feared for his life f

he served as deputy prime minister under boris yeltsin in the 1990's. on the line from moscow, what more can you tell us? >> there aren't a huge amount of details just yet. we know this happened shortly before midnight local time. the news just came out an hour later. we understand boris was sought -- force was shot four times -- boris was shot four times by a gun man in a white car. police are hunting for the car and for the shooter. that was confirmed soon afterwards when his political opposition colleague was quoted on twitter. she was next to the body and could confirm he had been shot. since then, shock on the radio i have been listening to. nobody expected this at all. he was extremely well-known as an opposition politician in the 1990's. in terms of political opposition, there is very little in russian today or in parliament. his prominence is far lower now than it was in the 1990's. the fact he was shot dead in the middle of the night just a few short steps from the kremlin is really shocking people here. >> he was an outspoken critic of vladimi

he served as deputy prime minister under boris yeltsin and had been governor of a big city. after leaving parliament in 2003 he helped establish and led several opposition parties. he was murdered two days before a major opposition rally he was due to take part in. >> until now, at least, the kremlin does not tend to deal with opponents by shooting them in the street. you know but there are all kinds of political force, many under the carpet who might do a thing like that to create waves or create a crisis. to cast blame on the kremlin >>> russian president vladimir putin condemned the murder. his spokesman said the president is it taking the investigation into the murder under his personal control >>> the fighting in eastern ukraine forced more than a million people to flee their homes. many thousands of others are unwilling or unable to leave. local hospitals have been turned into trauma units. they are struggling to cope with a shortage of staff and medical supplies. we have this report. >> for 2-year-old oxana and her youngest sister home is the simply room in this hospi

he served as deputy prime minister under former president yement sin, and -- yeltsin and had been governor of one of the biggest cities. after leaving parliament in 2003 he helped to establish and led several opposition parties, and was murdered two days before a major opposition rally he was due to take part in. >> he was a top three leader. opposition. in russia he is - has been you know a personal nemesis of vladimir putin, one of the most daring and outspoken leaders. he organised most of the opposition rallies going back to 2011. >> russian president vladimir putin condemned the murder his spokesman saying the president is taking the investigation into boris nemtsov's murder under his personal control >>> well jazzal jazeera's correspondent is in moscow. there's a lot of conspiracy theories circulating around russia, not least because boris nemtsov, himself said he feared for his life. >> yes. everybody i talked to today seems to be absolutely sure that it was a political murder. people say he didn't do much other than politics. he was a figure charismatic, attractive articulate of th

many times, starting as far back in the 1990s, when he was the deputy prime minister under boris yeltsin until the time he ran for a mayor in sochi, to expose corruption in the olympics, and trying to start a real opposition movement from sochi, that would have free media and free speech in russia to criticize the kremlin vladimir putin, which he has done for the last two decades. he is i think, the tallest, highest profile political opposition figure in russia. the timing is extremely sinister. he was about to be working on a report. it is said that directly it points the finger at vladimir putin, for pulling the trigger on the events in ukraine, causing the events in ukraine, and putting troops into ukraine, despite vladimir putin's denials, and told a magazine this month, earlier this month, boris told a russian naga zone that he feared for his life because of outspoken criticisms of vladimir putin. here he is walking meters away from the kremlin, on a bridge in central moscow in full view of the kremlin and st. basil's casino. men pulled up. several got out, fired at him, and he was

he served as a prime minister under boris yeltsin. early on saturday morning he was shot dead in central moscow, hours ahead of a massive opposition rally. we have the latest. >> reporter: boris nemtsov received death threats before but pushed them aside and said if he was afraid he wouldn't lead an opposition party. on saturday morning, the 55-year-old was shot four times from a passing car and killed near the kremlin. >> translation: he was big, handsome, bright and talented - the kind they kill. we needed him very much. >> boris nemtsov was killed a day before he was supposed to lead on opposition rally. thou there's anger -- now there's anger in the movement, some calling his death an assassination. >> this is a new spiral in the dissent into the state. it is a political murder of one of the brightest politicians. >> vladimir putin offered his condolence and called the murder a provocation. and vowed to oversee the investigation into boris nemtsov's death. those that new the opposition leader say the government did nothing to prot

a man who had a brief window at the very center of the reform window under boris yeltsin. into a marginal role by the authorities that replaced him. >> yes i would include a caveat in what you said. the russian authorities certainly did have a role in marginalizing political figures. that has been a convenient excuse for the russian liberals to blame their inability to articulate a message that would resonate with ordinary russians and to sort of push all the blame off on to the kremlin. >> it was such a brazen attack in a busy part of the city on a busy evening. lots of witnesses presumably. will we ever know do you think who pulled the trigger and who ordered the killing? >> those are two different issues who pulled the trigger. we will probably found out pretty quickly. who ordered and paid for the killing is always a lot murkier and difficult to follow through for the police. now, what we know so far is that vladmir putin has ordered the justice ministry the ministry of interior and the fsb to make this a priority and has ordered their heads to take personal interest i

staunchly against yeltsin government, against corruption. staunchly one of the biggest critics against president putin. he came out recently and accused putin of personally launching and unleashing the violence in the war in ukraine. that's what he was calling the people out to on the weekend calling for all the opposition parties to finally unite and fight the kremlin and president putin, and l david he told a magazine earlier in the month that he feared for his life, that he might be killed and indeed that is what has happened tonight. he was shot very close to the kremlin walls walk across a bridge in full view of st. basil's cathedral. it is a shocking event but more than that it is potentially a seismic political event this has occurred in russia tonight. this is not just another figure who has been mildly critical of the kremlin would has been gunned down a journalist or a governor or a prosecutor. this is -- i don't think anybody in russia has a higher profile than boris nemsof than all the leaders in russia he has been gunned down ju

the fact is this economic system was created by yeltsin, mr.hat, he worked in russia at the time. miss freeland knows this because she wrote one of the best books about this. suddenly it's about putin, he inherited this system. but something has happened here. this vilification of putin, i've been doing this -- i'm probably the oldest person at this table. i recall the '60s. i do not recall this public vilification referring to the russian leader as a hitler which is completely incorrect that ever having been done to a soviet communist leader after stalin. the result is a kind of analysis you're hearing here. all about putin. there's no russia. russia has no agency. here is the point. henry kissinger said back in march of last year the demonization of putin is not a policy, it's an alibi for not having a policy. it's worse than what dr. kissinger has said. it's completely obscured. it's degraded, any kind of rational analysis of this country as to who is to blame for this and how we get out of it. the result is as we talk -- as we talk, and thi

parliament in 1990 and seven years later, he became a deputy prime minister under the watch of the boris yeltsinin the last few years though he has become a prominent critic of the russian leadership. >> he is a man of principle. he stood up for the values that were human ones in favor of ordinary people having their say in the way that russia should develop and the need which i think is a profound need for any country to have a dialogue between the rulers and the ruled. so in general, yes, heyou might just call that justice. >> nemtsov refused to be silenced. he tried to expose corruption in the run-up to last year's sochi olympics. more recently, he had been a leading voice against russia's alleged involvement in the conflict in eastern ukraine. in the hours before his murder nemtsov who had four children gave his last radio interview using it to once again call for political reform. he had been to an opposition rally in moscow on sunday that will now become a memorial to boris nemtsov, shot dead in the shadows of the walls he had spent the last few years trying to break down. emma haywardwood

. >> even russian president boris yeltsin seems comfortable on the dance floor. >> kick it. >> not allwever. just ask karl rove. ♪ tell me what is your name >> mc rove. >> i saw this one live, i'm afraid. it was even scarier to watch karl rove rapping in person than on the tv. he's got some of the movements that only dick cheney could manage. >> mc rove. ♪ our dnc is what they're calling me ♪ >> colin powell is equally musically challenged. here he is singing at a security meeting in indonesia. and bad boy blagojevich is caught on camera taking on elvis. ♪ >> yikes. don't quit your day jobs, fellas. oh, wait, never mind. perhaps they should have made a speedy escape like president bush tried to do after this press conference. >> this was one of the famous episodes with george bush looking like he didn't know what he was doing because he didn't even know where the door was. >> i was trying to escape. >> and talk about wanting to escape, who can forget vice president dan quayle exercising his spelling expertise in front of the cameras. >> add one little bit on the end. potato. you wrote

he was deputy prime minister under yeltsin.ritics of putin, bad things seem to happen to them. >> yes, unfortunately, existing power represent what i saw russia of 19th century. not of 21st. >> boris nemtsov was 55 years old. joining from moscow is frederik pleitgen. what are authorities saying about this incident? >> reporter: we have just gotten new information a couple of minutes ago. authorities say this happened in the late evening hours. and the interesting thing was boris nemtsov was walking directly in the vicinity of the kremlin and there was a second person who was with him. and she later spoke to an opposition figure who just spoke to us and he said that she told him that they had been walking along a bridge near the kremlin that a car stopped next to the two. a man jumped out, opened fire at nemtsov. very targeted very direct. jumped back in his car and sped away. russian authorities say they've started a manhunt for this person. they're searching for someone who apparently fled in a white car. i can tell you from m

it's the same question he asked yeltin -- yeltsin, the same question he asked frequently. sinclair should he asked of milosevic -- same question he asked of milosevic. we are in the unique position to try to get people to break out of their old patterns and moved to a different place. >> just to follow up on that point in the beginning of the obama administration round on the middle east and i've worked closely with these middle eastern actors, palestinian and israeli, in more iterations than i care to a knowledge at this point, but i am. i think one of the things that is unique about president clinton possibility -- clinton's ability is the ability to work so directly with these individuals and be able to make each of them feel like he absolutely knows what they are going through. in the all politics is local, he knows their political dilemmas as well, and he can figure out -- help them figure out what their political roots might be. that is part of each of them -- the pluses and minuses, each of them feeling they need to deal only and directly with him. so certainly in t

at one point he was going to be boris yeltsin's successor.im being killed without his guards without his security, he was walking the street there's a lot of suspicion. you can't finger putin directly but, you know, the smell of this whole thing, opposition figures disappearing, being killed, repression, press repression this is not a good period for putin. this could be a bigger problem for him than some of the economic problems of the russian economy falling apart. >> which sets the stage for the fact that the world of course is going to be paying close attention to what happened given the fact that boris nemstov was a high-profile opposition leader. what kind of pressure do you think putin will be under at this time knowing that so many people are watching his moves and other world leaders are expressing outagency at the death of this man. >> the big concern that putin has is what europe will do what germany, what angela merkel, the french will do saying look this has reached the point where the repression and the rule in the ukraine, expa

. >> meet boris nemtsov, deputy prime minister under yeltsin.pen to them. >> yes. i represent russia of the 19th century, not of 21st. >> this is a case of a known enemy of putin that has radioactive plutonium, are you concerned? >> me? myself? >> yeah. >> i was born here 54 years ago. this is my country. russian people are in a bit of trouble. the russian court doesn't work. russian education declining every year. and i believe russia has a chance to be free. it is difficult what you must do. >> well, today mourners held a vigil at the site of nemtsov's death. this as president obama called for an impartial investigation into the leader's murder. and his mother says her son's killer will be properly punished. joining me from moscow fred anything new on the search? i see a huge group of people mourners who have turned out, but what more on the investigation? and is it trusted an investigation will be pursued? >> reporter: well, it certainly is entrusted by many people for the investigation that will be impartial. but right now it seems as though