Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to regain the initiative in war-torn Chechnya today by submitting a bill offering an amnesty to rebels who surrender.
The amnesty offer, which was being prepared but was submitted hurriedly to parliament, follows two suicide bombings in Chechnya that killed nearly 80 people in the space of three days.
Mr Putin formally proposed the measure before the State Duma lower house of parliament, which could vote on the amnesty as early as Wednesday next week, according to a senior lawmaker.
"A humanitarian gesture, the amnesty is principally aimed at creating further conditions for peaceful life in the Chechen republic," Mr Putin said in a letter.
The amnesty would pardon all Chechen guerrillas who hand in their weapons and stop their rebel activity before August 1st, but those accused of murder, kidnapping and other serious crimes as well as foreigners would not qualify.
A number of foreign mercenaries, mainly Arabs, are fighting in the ranks of the rebel forces, which have been battling with Russian troops since they re-entered the breakaway southern republic in October 1999.
On Monday, suicide bombers drove a truck packed with a tonne of explosives into a government building in northern Chechnya, killing at least 59 people.
Yesterday, at least 16 people were reported killed when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a crowded Muslim religious event in a village east of the capital Grozny.
AFP