RUSSIA: Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday announced the end of the six-year war in Chechnya, saying rebel forces had been defeated.
"I believe we can speak of the completion of the counterterrorist operation," he told an annual meet-the-press news conference.
His comments come after several months of inactivity in the war-torn Caucuses province.
Chechnya has become identified as "Putin's war" because he sent Russian forces into the province, while prime minister, in August 1999.
Since then there have been frequent declarations by the army that fighting was over, but each time the rebels launched further offensives.
Suicide bombers have brought terror to Moscow and downed airliners, and in 2004 186 children were massacred at a Beslan high school.
Mr Putin's comments sit oddly with claims by Russian officials that Chechen terrorists were responsible for blasts that cut two pipelines and an electricity line into Georgia two weeks ago. Georgia insists the explosions were the act of Russian forces, but Moscow insists they were the work of rebel groups.
There has been little fighting in Chechnya in recent months, and last year Russian security forces managed to kill a key Chechen leader, former regional president Aslan Maskhadov.
However, observers say rebel groups usually break off operations during the winter months only to resume attacks in the spring.
Mr Putin's remarks came in a tough and assured press conference where key differences with western nations were highlighted.
The president accused unnamed powers of trying to become "puppeteers" by infiltrating spies into human rights groups.
The comments come 10 days after state television accused four British diplomats of spying on Moscow and of funnelling money to rights groups to buy influence.
"We are for their funding being transparent," Mr Putin said. "We don't want them led by puppeteers from abroad." He was commenting on a law he has just signed giving new powers to the government to monitor and control rights groups.
However, the four diplomats would not be expelled. "Let them stay. It will be nicer for us to know that we can keep an eye on these people," he said.
Mr Putin said Russia was deploying a new ballistic missile system in what some fear will start a Cold War-style arms race with the United States. "Last year Russia tested missiles systems that no one in the world has and won't have for a long time," he said.
The missiles could change course in flight, fooling missile defences. "These missile systems don't represent a response to a missile defence system, but they are immune to that," he said.
And he said Russia did not consider Hamas, winner of Palestinian elections, to be a terror group. "Russia has never declared Hamas a terrorist organisation, but it doesn't mean we support and accept everything Hamas has done and all the statements it has made," he said.
Mr Putin called for Hamas to "refrain from extremist declarations, acknowledge Israel's right to exist and put its contacts with the international community in order."
He also announced that there would be no change in a tightly centralised governing system which opponents say has rolled back democracy.
There were warnings, too, for both Georgia and Ukraine, both of which have clashed with Russia over gas supplies recently.
He said Ukraine would be asked to renegotiate a deal granting it cheap gas, and warned Georgia not to continue allegations that Russia blew up gas lines. "What have we heard and seen from the Georgian leadership? Just insults against us," Mr Putin said.