PM's Wife Risks Kremlin Wrath to Meet Ngos

Cherie Blair yesterday risked the wrath of the Kremlin by meeting Russian civil society groups and apparently offering them legal advice in their fight against a law they say will restrict their activities.

Mrs Blair left the G8 summit at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg to meet a dozen Russian non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Foreign and local NGOs have come under greater scrutiny from the Russian authorities since a new law came into force requiring many of them to register again with the government. Critics say the new law gives officials arbitrary control over their activities and the ability to shut them down.

While President George Bush met Russian NGOs before the summit, Tony Blair has remained silent about the alleged "rollback of democracy" in Russia.

Mrs Blair said she was interested to hear about the Russian NGO law reforms, and asked the media to leave as "it is quite important the NGOs feel comfortable to be able to speak to me [in private]".

Alexander Petrov from Human Rights Watch's Moscow office attended the meeting. He said: "If the NGO community had some questions regarding the legal analysis of NGO legislation, then she said she would be able to assist with that."

He added that Mrs Blair had offered to advise them which cases to pursue in the European court of human rights. Two other who were at the meeting confirmed the offer. Mrs Blair said she was not yet familiar with the legislation, they said.