NPR's Andy Bowers reports that Chechnya today inaugurated its new president, Aslan Maskhadov (AHS-lahn mosque-HAH-doff). Maskhadov is the leader of the Chechen rebel force that defeated the Russian Army. The Chechens view of the ceremony is that it is the beginning of Chechen independence. The Russian consider Chechen as still a Russian republic. Terms of independence have been put off until 2001.
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