Kremlin candidate win may not sway Chechen rebels

A former Muslim cleric backed by the Kremlin coasted to a sweeping win yesterday in a presidential vote in Chechnya, though many commentators doubt the result will halt a bloody separatist guerilla campaign.

Akhmad Kadyrov, an ex-rebel who switched sides, was poised for victory in a poll whose outcome was a foregone conclusion, snubbed by most international observers and dismissed by much of Russia's press as a pointless one-horse race.

President Vladimir Putin, who viewed the election as a key element in restoring peace while excluding separatists, praised the outcome - especially the turnout, which he said was nearly 87 per cent.

Russia has battled insurgents in the region on and off for nine years with the loss of tens of thousands of lives.

With all real rivals having quit the race or been disqualified, incomplete results gave Kadyrov an unassailable lead - 81.1 per cent of 70 per cent of votes counted from Sunday's poll in the largely devastated territory on Russia's mountainous southern fringes.

Putin, addressing ministers in Moscow, said the outcome was "wholly satisfactory":

"The turnout shows people have hopes for a better life, for positive changes in the life of the republic."

A grinning Kadyrov told reporters in his home village his task now was to work with people. "The trust of the people is the main thing," he was shown saying on nationwide television.

Analysts acknowledged that Kadyrov's victory was exactly what the Kremlin had sought. But they said Moscow's bid to legitimise its rule in the region was unlikely to stop the violence which often spreads beyond Chechnya's borders.

"This election could hardly be described as fair," said Valentin Gifter of the Institute For Human Rights in Moscow.

"I hope we won't see new terrorism, but this cannot be ruled out. As the rebels have no strength for big advances, this will probably take the form of attacks on people linked to Kadyrov."

Putin, in comments before the poll but made public yesterday, said he hoped Kadyrov's past could be used to good effect.

"I hope that his contacts with these people (the rebels) who are still opposing us in Chechnya and his influence on them will be positive," he told the New York Times in remarks appearing on the Kremlin Web site.

International reaction was muted. Visiting French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told reporters he had discussed Chechnya at length with Putin.

"He told me about the next stages in this political project after the election, aimed at achieving reconciliation," he said.