The Kremlin-backed candidate in Chechnya's discredited presidential election Ahmad Kadyrov has been elected president of the troubled southern republic.
Kadyrov won 81.1% of the vote casts in Sunday's poll, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
| And by a landslide, too... |
Chechnya's estimated 560,000 registered voters had a choice of seven candidates, but two of Kadyrov's main rivals withdrew during the campaign and a third, Malik Saidullayev, a wealthy businessman and former prime minister, was disqualified because of alleged irregularities. The election has been widely criticised by critics as well as the Chechen independence fighters.
| Also known as Krazed Killers... |
Leader of the Chechen fighters, Aslan Maskhadov vowed to "rid our country of the occupiers and put an end to relations between Russia and the Chechen state, no matter how difficult the task". |