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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| RussiaÂ’s Putin Steps Into Power Struggle in Chechnya |
| 2006-05-07 |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped into an increasingly bitter power struggle between the two most powerful officials installed by Moscow in the war-torn province of Chechnya, AFP reported. Putin is backing Chechen President Alu Alkhanov as a “last counterbalance” against the growing influence of the province’s powerful Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, who unofficially controls a force of several thousand armed men, the liberal Kommersant daily said. At a news conference in Moscow on Saturday, a day after he and Kadyrov met with Putin, Alkhanov said: “I have been elected by the Chechen people and I continue to exercise my office. The president restated to me that the federal centre wants political peace and goodwill in Chechnya.” Last month, several people were injured in a shoot-out between security forces loyal to Kadyrov and Alkhanov outside a government building in Grozny, the province’s capital. Kadyrov’s press service later attempted to minimize the clash, saying it was no more than “a run-of-the-mill incident” that started after an argument between two bodyguards. Kadyrov, 29, is the son of Chechnya’s late pro-Moscow leader Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in a bomb attack in May 2004. According to the law, he cannot take up the post of president of the province until he reaches the age of 30 in October. |
| Posted by:ryuge |