Meeting in support of Chechen interior minister as presidential candidate held in Chechnya

Many thousands of people gathered in the village of Tsentoroy, Chechnya's Kurchaloy district, on June 10 for a meeting to support the Chechen interior minister as a candidate in the republican presidential election to be held in August. Residents from different districts of the republic started arriving at Tsentoroy, the ancestral village of the Kadyrov family, in the morning. Busses were specially allotted to convey the people. The participants addressed Chechen Interior Minister Major-General Alu Alkhanov with an urgent request to run for the Chechen presidency. This action was not the first mass action during which the population supported Mr Alkhanov.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of the late Chechen president, Akhmat Kadyrov, stated the same day that "Alu Alkhanov is a worthy companion-in-arms of Akhmat Kadyrov, his candidacy has been unanimously chosen by the team of the late Chechen president and supported by his numerous companions-in-arms." Mr Alkhanov himself has refrained from any comments up till now.

47-year-old Major-General Alu Alkhanov was born in Kazakhstan. He graduated from the Academy of the USSR Interior Ministry. He has headed the Chechen Interior Ministry since April 2003. Alu Alkhanov is married and has three daughters.