Europe envoy to Chechnya

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles, is going to Chechnya today Tuesday as part of his investigations into the human rights position there.

He's due to meet members of the pro-Moscow administration.

On Monday, officials in Moscow told him sixteen bodies had been found in a suburb of the capital, Grozny: he said he'd asked for a full investigation.

The military blames rebels for the killings, but human rights organisations say the Russians could have carried them out. The Council suspended Russia's voting rights for nearly a year because of human rights worries in Chechnya.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service