Russia invites observers to Chechnya poll

Moscow would welcome international monitoring of the constitutional referendum in Chechnya next month and the forthcoming regional elections, Alexander Yakovenko, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokes-man, said yesterday.

Observers would be welcome at the 23 March referendum and at elections of a president and parliament in the war-ravaged republic, which had not yet been scheduled, his statement said.

Russia is eager to win international approval of the referendum, an effort by the Kremlin and the Moscow-backed regional administration to promote stability and further discredit militants while cementing Chechnya's status as part of Russia.

Mr Yakovenko said the proposed constitution – which would be subordinate to the Russian constitution – was being examined by the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body.

Alvaro Gil-Robles, the council's human rights commissioner, was in Moscow yesterday meeting Russian officials before travelling to Chechnya and next-door Ingushetia. He plans to evaluate human rights in Chechnya and among Chechen refugees in Ingushetia. He will also examine whether previous recommendations have been implemented, including one last May calling for human rights to be guaranteed during operations as Russian forces hunt rebels. Human rights groups say the hunts are rife with abuses, including killings.

Russian forces left Chechnya in 1996 after a failed 20-month war against separatist rebels that left tens of thousands of people dead, many civilians, and the region with de facto independence. The troops returned in 1999 after rebel attacks in a neighbouring region and deadly bombings blamed on the rebels.

On Monday, Anatoly Popov replaced Mikhail Babich as Chechnya's Prime Minister. Mr Babich had resigned under pressure after a dispute with Akhmad Kadyrov, his superior and chief of the Moscow-backed administration.