At a news conference after the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out negotiating with Chechen rebel leaders. Drawing comparisons, he said no "civilized" country was prepared to bargain with al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden.

Vladimir Putin said: "Mr. Bin Laden has already twice offered Europe a so-called truce in exchange for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. But nobody considers entering into negotiations with him. Why? Because the whole civilized world believes that the methods Mr. Bin Laden and his organization use are such that they do not permit people of today's civilized world to discuss any issues whatsoever with him."

Since the Beslan School siege two weeks ago, Russia has unveiled a 10 million dollar bounty on the heads of the two main Chechen leaders, Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev.

Putin also announced radical changes to Russia's political system, which he says will stiffen the national drive against on terror.

Source: CCTV.com