Chechnya’s president-elect pledged to bring peace and stability to his war-torn southern Russian region today after the Kremlin-backed candidate was elected in a vote tainted by allegations of fraud and overshadowed by fears of terrorism.

The Kremlin’s favoured candidate for president of war-battered Chechnya overwhelmingly won an election that opponents claimed was riddled with fraud, Russian news agencies reported today.

A man who tried to bring a suspicious package into a polling station in Chechnya today was killed in an explosion as he ran away, election officials said.

THE Kremlin’s candidate Akhmad Kadyrov won a landslide victory in Chechnya’s presidential election but few voters believed he would bring a rapid end to the fighting that has devastated their republic.