Uzbek's election advice to Putin arrives too late

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Uzbekistan's leader Islam Karimov, who exploited a legal loophole to stay in office for a third term, said on Wednesday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could have used a similar tactic.

But Karimov quickly acknowledged that his advice had come a bit too late.

Karimov, on a visit to Russia to discuss cooperation between the two former Soviet republics, said Putin should have ordered a referendum to extend the president's term in office.

"It is too late to talk about this now," he said. "But if such an option worked, I am convinced that no one would regret it. Such decision would be the most logical and correct," Karimov told reporters.

Putin, who was standing alongside Karimov when he made the comments, did not react.

Russia is due to hold presidential elections in March. Putin says he will step down next May in line with a constitutional ban on a head of state serving more than two consecutive terms. But Putin has said he plans to retain influence in the country.

Opinion polls suggest his close ally Dmitry Medvedev is likely to be elected as the next president.

Karimov, accused by rights activists and Western governments of tolerating no dissent in his Central Asia republic, won a third term in an election last year that Western monitors said was undemocratic.

Uzbekistan's constitution, like Russia's, bars a president from serving three consecutive terms.

Karimov avoided the ban because in 2002 the country held a referendum to extend presidential terms from 5 to 7 years. Legal experts said that meant his time in office would be counted from 2002, not the point he first came to power.

(Writing by Oleg Shchedrov and Christian Lowe; Editing by Sami Aboudi)