Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Russia's Vladimir Putin to run for a third presidential term in 2008, despite a constitutional two-term limit, according to a newspaper interview published Monday. Mubarak, set to visit Russia later this week, hailed Putin as «a very good, clever leader» in the interview with the daily Vremya Novostei, and said he should stay in office _ the first such call from a global leader. «Russia needs Putin,» Mubarak was quoted as saying. Asked by the newspaper what he would tell Putin when they sat down for talks in the Kremlin, Mubarak answered: «To stay on and not to listen to anyone. For the sake of national interests.» «He knows well the situation in Russia and the world,» Mubarak said about Putin. «He understands everything. Let him stay.» The immensely popular Putin is constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term, and he has insisted he will step down in 2008 . However, supporters and various regional groups, including in Chechnya, have called for a referendum on amending the country's basic law to allow Putin to stay in power.
