Morning in Chechnya

GROZNY, Russia: New Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov took the oath of office in a ceremony designed to help build up a sense of national identity in the shattered region. Because the Moscow government was determined to portray the inauguration in the secessionist republic as an internal Russian affair, few foreign leaders were present at the event. Now comes the hard part for Maskhadov, who built his fame as a tough-minded and decisive military leader in masterminding several key victories in Chechnya's bloody struggle with Russia. He is faced with a large-scale reconstruction of Chechnya. The war left the capital of Grozny flattened and the region's economy nearly at a halt. The government must also deal with thousands of refugees and war widows. Hanging over all is the need to have a strong governmental structure in place when final negotiations on Chechen independence begin five years from now.