New Chechen president confirmed

Alkhanov takes office in a month's time

Alu Alkhanov has been officially named as the new president of Chechnya, following elections at the weekend.

The Chechen electoral commission said Mr Alkhanov, Moscow's preferred candidate in the poll, had got 73.67% of the votes.

It said he would take up his functions after an investiture ceremony in one month's time.

Some monitors and other candidates alleged the result was fixed, saying polling booths had been almost empty.

However the chairman of the commission, Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, said turnout had been 85.25% of the electorate - amounting to 505,936 people.

"It was a planned election and according to Chechen law, the winning candidate must take up his functions as president 30 days after the publication of the official protocol with the definitive results of the vote," said Bouvaissari Arsakhanov, vice-president of the commission.

Mr Alkhanov will succeed Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated on 9 May in a bomb attack in Grozny.