Voice of America reports:
Chechnya's parliament has approved a former rebel leader as the war-torn region's president. The approval came one day after Ramzan Kadyrov was nominated for the post by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bill Gasperini has more for VOA from Moscow.
The former rebel, who has previously served as prime minister of the republic, is credited with helping subdue militant separatists in Chechnya. But human rights groups say security forces under Mr. Kadyrov's control have aducted, tortured and killed many civilians who are suspected of being separatist rebels.
The new president has also been accused of being involved in the killing of Anna Politovskaya, a high-profile journalist with the opposition daily Novaya Gazeta who reported frequently on Chechnya. She was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building last October just before an article was due to appear linking Mr. Kadyrov to torture. He has denied the charges, saying that "he would never kill a woman."
The new Chechen president praised Mr. Putin and pledged to do his best in his new post. Mr. Kadyrov is the son of Ahkmad Kadyrov, who was the president of Chechnya until he was assassinated in 2004.
This clearly doesn't bode well for human rights in Chechnya, but it is unclear how this will affect ethnic relations. Mr. Kadyrov, like his father, had initially fought on the Chechen sepratist side - so he might be more sympathetic than he initally appears. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few months.
The photo is by Dmitry Nikiforov for the AP.
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