Feared son of slain Chechen leader gets post

CROWDS of mourners streamed to a village in the Chechen foothills yesterday to bury President Akhmad Kadyrov, killed by a bomb in Chechnya’s capital, and his widely-feared son was named a top official in the republic hours later.

The killing of Mr Kadyrov on Sunday was a bold blow to the Kremlin's strategy for bringing stability to the warring republic through the strengthening of civilian authority and raised worries of a harsh crackdown in Chechnya.

Mr Kadyrov's son Ramzan, who was named Chechnya's first deputy premier, heads a security force that many Chechens and human rights groups allege is responsible for abducting and abusing civilians.

As mourners converged on Tsentoroi, the Kadyrov clan's home village, for a traditional burial ceremony including singing and circles of men slowly dancing, Russian officials were investigating how the powerful explosive may have been planted and set off in the stadium where Mr Kadyrov and other officials were attending a ceremony marking Russia's Victory Day holiday.

In all, six people were killed and 57 injured, said Chechnya's Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations, Akhmed Dzheirkhanov. Other victims included Khusein Isayev, the head of Chechnya's State Council, and Reuters photographer Adlan Khasanov.

Among the wounded was the top Russian military commander in Chechnya, Colonel-General Valery Baranov, who had a leg amputated. The bombing which thwarted heavy security in place for official ceremonies nationwide on an important holiday underlined the difficulties Russia faces in controlling the violence in Chechnya despite a massive troop presence.

It was expected to spark new violence between Mr Kadyrov's camp and his enemies, who had long pledged to eliminate him.