Seven candidates ended their four-week-long presidential campaign Friday in Chechnya, with Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov standing as a clear favorite to win the election slated for Sunday in the Russian republic.

The vote will be the second in less than a year in violence-ravaged Chechnya, following the May assassination of Akhamd Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed former president elected last October,in a bomb attack in the Chechen capital of Grozny.

Tensions in the republic have been further heightened by the death of 89 people on Tuesday in twin air crashes.

Russia said Friday terrorists were behind the crash of a Tu-154jet, as an Islamic group vowing support for Chechnya rebels claimed responsibility for that attack and the downing of another airliner.

Rebel attacks have become increasingly rampant in Chechnya after Kadyrov's death, and separatists even vowed to kill Alkhanovas another "Moscow stooge," which roused grave concerns over the prospect of peace after the elections.

ALKHANOV EXPECTED TO WIN ELECTIONS

Russian media have predicted 47-year-old Alkhanov, a career policeman, is poised to win the election by garnering some 80 percent of the votes.

Alkhanov, a favorite of both Russian President Vladimir Putin'sgovernment and the Chechen administration, officially announced his decision to run for presidency on June 15 when meeting with the Russian leader in the Kremlin.

Alkhanov, a staunch Kremlin ally in the fight against Chechen separatists, was appointed in April 2003 as interior minister, a core member in the administration of Kadyrov.

Alkhanov has vowed to carry on Kadyrov's policies, and to treatsecurity and social stability as top priorities while trying to restore the tattered economy and improve people's life.

On the rampant rebel attacks that occurred in recent months, the tough-talking minister said he would not hold negotiations with rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, but would try to make rebels surrender.

Putin has made clear his support for Alkhanov, regularly appearing in public with him.

The president even made a unprecedented promise to Alkhanov that Chechnya can keep the revenue from its oil exports for its reconstruction, which, Russian media said, is an obvious sign of Putin's overwhelming support for Alkhanov's presidential bid. 

REBEL ATTACKS MOUNT

Rebel attacks have become increasingly rampant after the murderof Kadyrov on May 9. Several deadly attacks over the past two months have dealt a serious blow to Kremlin efforts to pacify the turbulent region.

On June 22, hundreds of heavily armed rebels, who were believedto have entered Ingushetia from Chechnya, staged simultaneous attacks on key points across the republic bordering Chechnya, killing more than 90 people.

Meanwhile, rebels were resorting to assassination attempts on local officials, attacks on government targets and terror bomb blasts so as to cause panic ahead of the voting.

Tamara Khadzhiyeva, leader of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party (URP) in the Shali district of Chechnya, was gunned down on July 18, being the 29th URP member killed in Chechnya.

An explosion hit the motorcade of Chechnya's acting president Sergei Abramov in Grozny on July 13, killing one of his guards. Chechen former vice prime minister Yakov Sergunin was shot dead onJune 25 in central Moscow. 

HOPE FOR PEACE DIMMED

Chechnya won de-facto independence in 1996 after the pullout ofRussian troops. Federal soldiers returned to the lawless republic in September 1999. Since then, the guerrilla war between Chechen rebels and federal troops has persisted, occasionally spilling into neighboring regions.

Russian troops have intensified military operations there afterthe assassination of Kadyrov. To guarantee security for the elections, Grozny has beefed up security to prevent armed rebels from entering the capital.

Russia media considers the situation in Chechnya is even more complicated and tense than that before last October's vote. Some Chechens worry about the possibility of armed rebels to sabotage the voting on Sunday.

Tensions were further heightened by the death of 89 people in twin air crashes on Tuesday.

Russia said Friday terrorists were behind the crash of the Tu-154 jet, as an Islamic group vowing support for Chechnya rebels claimed responsibility for that attack and the downing of another airliner.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said they had found traces of explosive materials in the wreckage of Tu-154. "A studyof the fragments of the Tu-154 aircraft discovered traces of an explosive substance," said FSB spokesman Sergei Ignachenko. He identified the materials as hexogene.

Though the cause of the air crashes is still under investigation, the pre-election turbulence sparked worries if the Chechen elections will go ahead smoothly and if Alkhanov, once elected as Chechen president, can bring peace to the republic.

Candidates running for Chechen presidency

Seven Chechens will run for Chechnya's next presidency Sunday, with Kremlin favorite Alu Alkhanov appearing set to win the top job in the Russian republic.

The election was called after Akhmad Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed former president of the violence-stricken Caucasus republic,was killed in a bomb explosion in May. Kadyrov was elected last October.

Following is a snapshot of the candidates in the Aug. 29 poll.

Alkhanov, a 47-year-old career police officer, now serves as Chechen interior minister and police major-general. He is the clear favorite of both the Kremlin and Kadyrov's clan.

He received the Kremlin's nod in mid-June and has since been regularly appearing in news broadcasts on state controlled television, both nationally and inside Chechnya.

Born in Kazakhstan in 1957, Alkhanov worked in the interior ministry of former Chechnya-Ingushetia autonomous republic after retirement from the Soviet Red Army. In the past two Chechen wars,he stood on the side of Russian central government. In April 2003,he was appointed Chechen interior minister.

Alkhanov has vowed to carry on Kadyrov's policies, putting security and social stability as top priorities while trying to restore Chechnya's economy and improve people's life.

Alkhanov's chances to win the election further improved after the Chechen central election commission in July barred his most serious challenger, Malik Saidullayev, a successful Moscow-based businessman, from running in the poll for failing to fill his application correctly.

Russian media have predicted that Alkhanov is poised to win by some 80 percent of the votes.

None of Alkhanov's six challengers are widely known in Chechnya:

-- Abdula Bugayev is a historian and director of the Chechen branch of the Modern Humanities Academy. He finished a distant second to Kadyrov last year with 5.7 percent of votes.

-- Movsar Khanidov, colonel, is head of the Chechen department of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

-- Vakha Visayev is an economist and an adviser to the acting Chechen president.

-- Mukhumd-Khasan Asakov is a staff member at the Chechen StateCouncil.

-- Magomed Aidamirov and Umar Abuyev, the other two candidates,are businessmen.

Source: Xinhua