Exiled Separatist Says Kadyrov Good For Chechnya

In an interview with RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service, Chechen Republic Ichkeria Foreign Minister Akhmed Zakayev said Kadyrov will be more independent that the outgoing pro-Moscow leader, Alu Alkhanov.

Zakayev said Kadyrov, a former rebel, will be more sympathetic to the separatists' agenda.

"On the whole, we consider it positive," Zakayev said. "Regardless of whether Putin made this reshuffle intentionally, or because he was forced to, it testifies to the incontestable prevalence of the sentiment in favor of Ichkerians, as we are often called, in the republic."

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Alkhanov as Chechen president on February 15, and named him Russian deputy justice minister.

As prime minister, Kadyrov became acting president. Putin will now appoint a permanent replacement who must be approved by the republic's legislature.

In an interview with ITAR-TASS earlier in the day, Kadyrov pledged to implement new economic policies that will make Chechnya one of Russia's richest regions.

(with material from ITAR-TASS)