RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin laid out his plan for peace in Chechnya yesterday, calling on officials to arrange elections, draft an amnesty for rebels and prepare to devolve broad powers to the war-shattered republic.
Mr Putin was speaking after Sunday's referendum on a new Chechen constitution, which officials said almost 96 per cent of voters supported, but which has been denounced by rebels, who killed four Russian soldiers yesterday in an act of defiance.
"No one has ever asked the Chechen people what they want," Mr Putin said. "We did that and the Chechen people have given a clear answer - they want to live in peace and friendship with all the peoples of the Russian Federation. The time has come to draft a power-sharing agreement between the federal authorities and Chechnya that would give Chechnya an autonomous status in the broadest sense of the word."
