Chechen President Alu Alkhanov was accepted as a member of Russia's biggest party, the United Russia,during a meeting of the party's general council on Saturday, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

"My decision to join the party was well considered and pondered on," Alkhanov said, noting that as a patriot of the fatherland he could not take another decision.

He knew better than anyone else what the United Russia had done for the Chechen Republic at the most difficult time in implementing the policy outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Alkhanov.

The United Russia party, set up in 2001, became the dominant force in Russia's parliament after winning the elections for the State Duma, the lower house of the parliament, in 2003.

Source: Xinhua