The president of the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, has abolished a charitable foundation Marsha run by his wife.

Earlier, thecountry's supreme Islamic court had ruled that women could not hold senior positions in an Islamic state.

The court also suspended parliament's law-making powers yesterday, saying such functions should be transferred to the state religious council.

Last month, four western hostages were found beheaded in Chechnya, and the BBC reporter for the region says as this has cut the president further off from the West, Mr Maskhadov is now making concessions to the Islamists to forge closer links with the Arab world.