Russia rejects new Chechen passports

A senior Russian official has said that new passports and car licence plates introduced in Chechnya at the beginning of the New Year will not be recognised by the Russian government.

The Chechen government started issuing the passports to back its claim to be independent from Moscow and says it intends to provide Chechen passports for all its population over the coming months.

The Russian offical, an unnamed member of the Russian Security Council, was reported as describing the separate passports and licence plates move as an unnecessary and unjustified spending of Chechen money.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service