Chechnya's new president, Aslan Maskhadov, took the oath of office under heavy security Wednesday, pledging to strengthen the self-proclaimed independence of his Muslim republic.
Hundreds of armed Chechen fighters guarded the 500-seat Khimik Palace of Culture, the only building in the largely ruined capital, Grozny, that could accommodate the inauguration ceremony.Packed inside the building were religious officials, political and military leaders and parents of separatist fighters killed in the nearly two-year war with Russia.
Chechens in traditional dress guarded the green Chechen flag, emblazoned with a black wolf and the republic's slogan: "Freedom, equality, peace."
"I'm handing into Aslan Maskhadov's hands a free, independent Chechnya," outgoing Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yan-dar-biyev said in a brief speech that opened the ceremony, held in the Chechen language.
The former Soviet army officer led rebel forces in the war and then negotiated a peace agreement with Moscow in August that provided for the pullout of the defeated Russian troops.
He became prime minister in Chechnya's separatist government and won a landslide victory in the Jan. 27 presidential elections.
His most urgent tasks include rebuilding Chechnya's war-shattered economy, providing social support to the tens of thousands of refugees and the needy and somehow achieving a working relationship with Russia.
Russia has recognized Maskhadov's victory, and President Boris Yeltsin sent an envoy to Wednesday's ceremony. But the two sides have not made any progress in resolving the fundamental dispute on Chechnya's political status.
Moscow insists that Chechnya must remain a part of Russia, while Chechen leaders consider the tiny republic fully independent and have been running their own affairs for months.