Appearing unsteady on his feet he was filmed as he said hello and casually tweaked them between the shoulder

Appearing unsteady on his feet, he was filmed as he said "hello" and casually tweaked them between the shoulder blades. The first woman jumped in surprise at the gesture, seen as another public indiscretion by the Russian leader, while the second turned and stared at Mr Yeltsin, then made an inaudible comment.The scent of ministerial blood yesterday set off speculation over who might succeed Mr Kozyrev. Among the names mooted was Vladimir Lukin, head of the State Duma's (lower house) foreign affairs committee, who has criticised Mr Kozyrev for incompetence. He was determined to keep the US-Russian relationship on track; he and President Clinton "get on too well" to let it deteriorate, he said.As he prepared for his news conference yesterday, Mr Yeltsin ignored the world's television cameras and shocked two women secretaries by pinching their backs. "This is the biggest disappointment of my entire presidency."He talked hopefully about reaching an agreement with President Bill Clinton during his forthcoming trip to the United States over the possible deployment of nuclear weapons near the Russian border if Nato expands into Eastern Europe.

Moreover, the West has been unwilling to compromise.Mr Yeltsin seemed to signal that in broad terms Russia would maintain its relationship with the West. He also made a frank admission that the war in Chechnya had been a mistake, a point that Western governments have been making since the conflict began 10 months ago "So many people have been killed there," he said. The major points of disagreement with the West - Nato enlargement, the bombing of the Serbs, and the inclusion of Russian troops in a peace-keeping force in Bosnia - seem likely to drag on, not least because Mr Yeltsin has been dictating foreign policy of late. But recently he has sounded less pro-Western and increasingly nationalist. His demise has been predicted in Moscow almost weekly ever since he got the job in 1990. But it is questionable how much difference it will make to Russian foreign policy, if any.The liberally inclined Mr Kozyrev has been derided as the West's "Mr Yes" - as opposed to the Soviet foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko, the "Mr No" of the Cold War. But my decision will stay." Today the two men are due to visit Paris, where they will meet President Jacques Chirac.If and when it happens, Mr Kozyrev's departure will cause some concern in the West, although little surprise.

According to Mr Yeltsin, the Foreign Minister could not get on with other ministers, and had failed to co-ordinate his policy with the government.The only reason he had not replaced him was because he had not found someone else to do the job "Let him continue working," the President said "Let us not make him knuckle under. PHIL REEVES Moscow Boris Yeltsin sought to shore up his struggling presidency yesterday by revealing that he plans to sack Andrei Kozyrev, his Foreign Minister and one of his most loyal allies, as soon as he can find a replacement.It was the latest of several attacks on his increasingly powerless minister in an attempt to appease Russia's nationalists and other hardliners who accuse Mr Kozyrev of selling out to the West, particularly over Bosnia, and have long demanded his resignation.With the Communists threatening to sweep parliamentary elections in December, and a presidential race in June, Mr Yeltsin's actions were clearly intended to try to improve his own dismally low popularity-ratings by decrying a figure who is widely scorned at home.As political savagings go, it was nasty, making it hard to believe that Mr Kozyrev can last much longer. Will they give the same things to the other inmates, or will they let them get infected and die?"The president of the constitutional court, Vincenzo Caianiello, acknowledged that the problem of inadequate treatment remained, but insisted it was a matter for the prison administration.. "You'll see, plenty of people in my condition will commit suicide rather than go back to prison," said Sergio Magnis, 29, from his hospital bed."How can they think of putting someone like me in a cell with other prisoners? Here everyone wears gloves and a face mask. Social workers and magistrates agree that jail is not a satisfactory alternative, since conditions are often crude and unsanitary.They have called for a rapid infusion of state cash to provide hospices for Aids sufferers.The constitutional court ruling was quickly denounced by the bandits, who said that they would have no chance of receiving appropriate treatment if they were sent to jail. Italy offers almost no specialised medical care for Aids patients.Italy's asylums and mental hospitals were closed down in one fell swoop in the late 1970s in a rushed attempt to end the inhumane conditions there, and nothing has taken their place.

They say their robberies were partly intended as a protest against the lack of facilities for people in their position. The police got so used to catching them and then releasing them again that they ended up on first-name terms.One of the gang leaders is now in hospital recovering from a lung infection, while the other two are living at home. Judges will now have to use discretion to decide whether or not to prosecute Aids patients for their misdeeds. The 1992 decree was supposed to be a humanitarian gesture, but ended up exposing the whole Italian legal system to ridicule when the Turin gang - all heroin addicts infected by shared needles - earned notoriety over the summer.They would repeatedly enter small banks in the Turin area, threaten staff and customers with a knife and walk out moments later with their pockets and coats stuffed with cash. The court cancelled a special decree passed three years ago which ruled that terminally ill criminals could not be kept in jail. And, instead of working with the government, he has denounced Mr Dini as "servile" Now he has been discredited but he still refuses to resign. He has become a one-man embarrassment to Italian democracy, eloquent proof that the system still needs reform.. Rome - Italy's constitutional court has put an end to the antics of a band of Turin robbers who for the past few months have held up dozens of banks and got away with it because they have Aids, and are therefore immune to prosecution, writes Andrew Gumbel.