Grozny - Aslan Maskhadov, president of Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt yesterday when an explosion occurred near his motorcade, his press service said.
After the blast near the presidential palace in central Grozny, the Chechen capital, the director of Chechnya's National Security Service, Mr Ibragim Khultyrov, denied reports that it had killed some people.
The Chechen leader is under pressure from powerful military commanders who accuse him of being too conciliatory towards Moscow and want to set up a strictly Islamic state based on Sharia law. Mr Maskhadov survived a similar attack last July when a car-bomb exploded near his motorcade.