Kadyrov to set up a commission for investigating power seizure in Chechen-Ingush republic

"I am sure that there will be no second round in the republic's elections, the winner will be known today," said Akhmad Kadyrov in his home village of Tsentoroi in the Kurchaloi district of Chechnya on Sunday.

According to the preliminary data, he is the certain leader in the Sunday elections for the Chechen president.

Akhmad Kadyrov, who held the post of the head of the Chechen administration, stated that his first decree would be "the decree on setting up a commission for investigating the crimes connected with the power seizure in the Chechen-Ingush republic (1991). A commission will also be set up to investigate kidnappings," underscored Kadyrov.

In his opinion, in order to restore Chechnya in the shortest period of time "it is necessary to grant the republic the broadest autonomy." Akhmad Kadyrov expressed the regret that some international organisations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, had not sent their observers to the elections. "It is necessary to show them that the people of Chechnya want peace and take an active part in the elections," said Kadyrov.

He also refuted the possibility of any talks with terrorists, in particular with separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.