CHECHNYA….

Akhmad Kadyrov, the mufti whom Putin named to head Chechnya’s administration, has chosen Bislan Gantemirov as his first deputy. Gantemirov, briefly mayor of Chechnya’s capital during the 1994-1996 war, was convicted by a Russian court of stealing funds sent from Moscow for the reconstruction of the region. He later received a pardon from President Yeltsin and supported Russian forces in the current campaign.