Chechen leader takes tough line on rebels

THE Kremlin-anointed police officer elected as Chechnya’s new leader in a vote condemned by many observers vowed yesterday to consign separatist extremists to the “dustbin of history”.

Alu Alkhanov won a crushing victory in the weekend’s presidential vote, but there were questions over how election officials managed to report dizzyingly high turnout figures when polling stations had often been deserted.

The election were forced by the assassination in May of the former president Akhmad Kadyrov by separatists who have been waging a brutal struggle with Moscow over the past decade.

With all the votes counted, Mr Alkhanov had reduced the other six candidates to the status of also-rans by polling 73.48%, according to local election officials. His nearest rival, Movsur Khamidov, polled only 8.94%.

While the official turnout was 85.24%, the respected rights group Memorial said the “election should be declared null and void due to the weak participation.”

As soon as his victory was confirmed, Alkhanov, currently Chechen interior minister, earmarked security as his top priority and reiterated the Kremlin’s hardline stance against negotiations with separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.