Chechen leader in hospital after car crash

Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov is in hospital after suffering serious injuries in a car crash in Moscow just days before…

Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov is in hospital after suffering serious injuries in a car crash in Moscow just days before a regional election.

Chechnya's envoy to Moscow, Ziyad Sabsabi, ruled out the possibility of an assassination attempt against Mr Abramov, however, who was appointed last year as prime minister of the troubled North Caucasus region, Interfaxnews agency reported.

Elections to Chechnya's parliament, set for November 27th, are the culmination of a Russian plan to stabilise the region, where separatist rebels have been fighting federal forces for over a decade.

Russia has organised a referendum, two presidential elections and now the parliamentary poll in the region, but rebels fight on with small-scale guerrilla assaults on Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen forces that claim lives almost daily.