RUSSIA: CAMPAIGNING BEGINS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN WAR-TORN REPUBLIC OF CHECHNYA

Record ID: 208336

  • Title: RUSSIA: CAMPAIGNING BEGINS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN WAR-TORN REPUBLIC OF CHECHNYA
  • Date: 26th August 2003
  • Summary: (W5) GROZNY, CHECHEN REPUBLIC, RUSSIA (RECENT-AUGUST 26-28, 2003) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV: RUSSIAN SOLDIERS GUARDING ROAD AGAINST GUERRILLA ATTACKS 0.06 2. SV: ROADSIDE GRAVE OF RUSSIAN SOLDIER KILLED IN BOMB ATTACK 0.10 3. WS: RUSSIAN SOLDIER LOOKING OUT FOR GUERRILLA SNIPERS 0.13 4. MV/SV/SCU: RUSSIAN SOLDIERS AT CHECKPOINT (3 SHOTS) 0.41 5. TRAVELLING SHOT: GROZNY STREETS 0.52 6. SV: SOLDIERS OUTSIDE ELECTION HEADQUARTERS 0.58 7. RUSSIAN AND CHECHEN FLAGS BY ELECTION SIGN 1.04 8. SV'S: CAMPAIGN WORKERS AT HEADQUARTERS OF INCUMBENT PRESIDENT AND CANDIDATE AKHMED KADYROV (2 SHOTS) 1.13 9. SV: TAYAS DZHABRAILOV, ELECTION CAMPAIGN CHIEF FOR INCUMBENT PRESIDENT, AKHMAD KADYROV, SAYING: "Kadyrov is a spiritual leader. He is the Islamic leader of Chechnya, a mufti. He proves that Russia is not fighting Islam but terrorism." 1.26 10. SV: DZHABRAILOV WITH JOURNALISTS 1.29 (W5) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FILE) (REUTERS) 11. SV: PRESIDENT OF CHECHEN REPUBLIC AKHMAD KADYROV ADDRESSING CROWD OF CHECHENS 1.40 12. SV: CHECHENS APPLAUDING 1.45 (W5) GROZNY, CHECHEN REPUBLIC, RUSSIA (AUGUST 26-28, 2003) (REUTERS) 13. SV'S: BROADCAST STUDIO OF CHECHEN TELEVISION (2 SHOTS) 1.54 14. WS/SV: CHECHEN NEWS BROADCASTER PREPARING TO GO ON AIR (2 SHOTS) 2.03 15. MV: FAMILY WATCHING CHECHEN TELEVISION 2.11 16. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOMA ALIYEV, GROZNY RESIDENT, SAYING: "We, like all Chechens, hope that this [the election] will change things for the better." 2.20 17. SV: ALIYEV'S SONS 2.25 18. SV'S: YOUNG CHILDREN IN APARTMENT CORRIDOR WITH RUSSIAN SOLDIER / CHILDREN GATHERING WATER (3 SHOTS) 2.41 19. SV'S: YOUNG CHILDREN PLAYING BY RUSSIAN MILITARY PATROL (2 SHOTS) 3.02 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 10th September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GROZNY, CHECHNYA, RUSSIA AND MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1GY2MMBUHOO6D28B0Y2GCZIER
  • Story Text: Campaigning has begun for a presidential election
    in Russia's war-torn Chechen republic.


    Russian soldiers fan out along a road on the
    outskirts of the Chechen capital of Grozny.

    A comrade of theirs was killed by a roadside bomb at
    this very spot; rebel attacks continue to kill Russian
    soldiers almost daily in Chechnya.

    Russian security forces are expected to step up patrols
    and increase checkpoints as the breakaway region prepares
    to host presidential elections next month.

    The election is a key step in Russian President
    Vladimir Putin's plan to end a decade of conflict with
    armed separatists, whom the Kremlin say are terrorists. The
    rebel forces, however, still control much of the
    countryside and some have vowed to disrupt the elections.

    Ten Chechen candidates are vying for the presidential
    post.

    Leading the pack is the incumbent president Akhmed
    Kadyrov who was appointed by the Kremlin in 2000 after
    Russian troops poured back into the region in the second
    war. His election campaign is aiming for a first-round
    victory based on his widespread recognition and his promise
    to make Chechnya stable.

    Kadyrov is a former Muslim cleric who fought alongside
    rebel forces in the first independence war that ended in
    1996. His campaign chief says that Kadyrov's war record
    shows Russia is helping Chechens battle terrorists, not
    patriots.

    "Kadyrov is a spiritual leader. He is the Islamic
    leader of Chechnya, a mufti (Muslim cleric). He proves that
    Russia is not fighting Islam but terrorism," says Kadyrov
    campaign chief Tays Dzhabrialov.

    But Kadyrov has fallen behind in recent opinion polls
    and opponents accuse him of using his grip on power to
    unfair advantage.

    In a controversial reshuffle this week, Kadyrov placed
    the Chechen press ministry under the responsibility of his
    election campaign chief.

    Russian news agencies reported that the republic's
    television station was then sealed off by armed interior
    ministry forces and effectively shut down from Thursday to
    Friday (September 4-5).

    The controversy is a bad omen for a vote that is
    suppose to open a new chapter in Chechen history.

    Some residents, such as Loma Alieyev say that they
    don't have much optimism for the elections, but still hope
    that it can bring about changes.

    An entire generation of Chechens have now grown up
    surrounded by war. It is far from certain whether the
    Kremlin backed presidential election on October 5 will
    su
    cceed in bringing an end to the Chechen conflict anytime
    soon.
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