Russia says it is preparing to withdraw a significant part of its troops from Chechnya following recent gains in the fighting with Chechen rebels.

The Russian deputy chief of staff, General Valery Manilov, said the decision had been reached at a high-level defence meeting in the Kremlin.

But he gave no details of when the pull-out would begin.

Russia has said it has over ninety-thousand troops in Chechnya.

Meanwhile the Russian military says it has raised the Russian flag in the centre of the Chechen capital, Grozny, outside the former residence of the Chechen President, Aslan Maskhadov -- indicating it now controls most of the city.

But correspondents say Russia still has to seize the heavily-fortified areas held by Chechen rebels in the mountainous south of the country.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service