-->Tycoon quits crisis-hit Yukos

Mikhail Khodorkovsky has resigned as chief executive of Russian oil giant Yukos.
"I am leaving the company," Mr Khodorkovsky said in a statement.

"I am sure that a highly professional and close team of experienced managers with the support of the board will successfully cope with the task of the globalisation of YukosSibneft's business."

The resignation came days after Mr Khodorkovsky was jailed on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

Analysts have said the crisis enveloping Yukos, which has pitted big business against the Kremlin, is the biggest political and economic crisis of President Vladimir Putin's three-year period in office.

Many Russians believe the case against Mr Khodorkovsky, thought to be Russia's richest man, is politically motivated.

He has funded opposition groups, breaking what analysts say was a tacit agreement to stay out of politics in return for avoiding investigation of his financial affairs.

Mr Khodorkovsky, a prominent member of Russia's super-rich business elite, made his fortune in a series of controversial privatisation deals in the mid-1990s.

Investors are reassessing Mr Putin's credentials as manager of one of the world's largest emerging economies while political commentators are interpreting the action as a drive by Kremlin hardliners to suppress political dissent.


<ul> ~ Tycoon quits crisis-hit Yukos</ul>