Moscow, Sunday,

Russia's justice minister, caught up in a scandal over a video film showing naked sauna scenes, will be removed from office temporarily pending an inquiry, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said on today

Valentin Kovalyov, who is also a member of Russia's Security Council, asked President Boris Yeltsin yesterday to suspend him while he cleared his name.

His request came after the monthly newspaper Sovershenno Sekretno (Top Secret) published grainy images taken from the video. It alleged they showed him in a sauna with women.

''We will suspend him temporarily from his duties,'' Chernomyrdin said.

''But things have to be investigated. I would prefer not to make any decisions based just on the publication,'' he added.

''Kovalyov denies everything,'' said Chernomyrdin, who recalled the 53-year-old former law professor from a foreign trip on Friday when the scandal broke. ''He is a lawyer. He knows how to defend himself. Let him prove it is not true.''

He added: ''If it is true, it is very sad for all of us, just sad. Such behaviour is not becoming to a government minister, or indeed any person. We will sort it out.''

In a country long known for official secrecy, few, if any, Russian ministers have had to resign because of scandals. In the Soviet era, newspapers almost never put the spotlight on serving ministers.

Moscow's powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, said Kovalyov should quit. He described the allegations as ''inadmissible for a person in such an important job''.

Russian television stations have broadcast brief but somewhat indistinct excerpts from the black-and-white video, clearly shot using a hidden camera. Top Secret said the video was shot at a gangland night-club sauna in September 1995. Kovalyov became justice minister in January of that year.

Kovalyov said on Saturday he had nothing to be ashamed of and was seeking to be suspended to defend his good name and the government's dignity. He hinted he would take legal action -Reuter