CHECHNYA: Mr Akhmad Kadyrov has pledged a bright future for Chechnya in his swearing-in as the region's president, in a ceremony shrouded in secrecy for fear of attack from separatist rebels.
Mr Kadyrov was inaugurated yesterday a fortnight after winning an election which Moscow calls a key step towards peace in Chechnya after two wars since 1993, but which guerrillas and many rights groups denounced as a Kremlin-orchestrated farce.
The former Islamic cleric reaffirmed his pledge to crush rebels and win broad political and economic autonomy for Chechnya, in a ceremony in the republic's second city, Gudermes.
Guests stayed overnight in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia and were only told of the location for the inauguration hours before it began.
Hundreds of Russian soldiers and members of Mr Kadyrov's militia guarded the event and snipers were stationed on nearby rooftops.
"My main ambition is restore peace in Chechnya, give the Chechen people jobs and confidence in the future," Mr Kadyrov said.
On their website, kavkazcenter. com, the rebels said the Russian security services had prepared a handful of different sites for Mr Kadyrov's inauguration and even staged mock preparations for the ceremony in the Chechen capital, Grozny, apparently to confuse the rebels or to lure them into a trap.
Mr Kadyrov said a disputed referendum in March and his recent election win made it clear that Chechens wanted to remain under Moscow's rule.
"The Chechen people have made their choice - it is to be part of the Russian Federation and that should be an end to it," he said, adding that he would "work towards attaining economic autonomy" for the region.
He said he wanted revenue from Chechnya's enterprises, particularly oilfields and pipelines, to remain within the republic.
He also thanked the Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, for supporting him in an election from which all his main rivals withdrew or were excluded and echoed the Russian leader's infamous vow of 1999 to kill rebels wherever they are found.
"I, with all responsibility, stress that we should not only wipe them out in the outhouse, but wipe them out in the very womb."
The target of dozens of assassination attempts, Mr Kadyrov admitted that security was still a major problem in Chechnya, where Russian troops died daily in bomb and gun attacks.
"When I leave my house in the morning, I am never sure I will come back safely," he said.