>How long has the Chechen conflict been going on?

Chechnya declared independence from Russia in November 1991, but Boris Yeltsin waited until 1994 before sending in the troops to restore Moscow's authority. That first Chechen war ended in humiliating defeat for the Russian forces in 1996.

On 1 October 1999, Russian Prime Minister (later President) Vladimir Putin went on the offensive again, launching an ?anti-terrorist operation? partly triggered by a wave of apartment block bombings in Moscow and other cities, which he blamed on Chechens. Earlier in the year, Chechen forces had also taken part in an armed attempt to establish an Islamic state in neighbouring Dagestan.

>What do the Chechens want?

Peace and stability are the main priority for most ordinary people. Rebel fighters want independence, or at least self-rule, and they almost got it after 1996. With Russian military forces out of the country, Chechens elected their own president in January 1997 ? Aslan Maskhadov, the former Russian artillery officer who had been the main rebel military commander during the war. Under the peace deal negotiated with Moscow, a decision on Chechnya's final political status was delayed for five years. Unfortunately Mr Maskhadov was unable in peacetime to control his more radical field commanders, and the breakaway republic descended into anarchy, becoming one of the hostage-taking capitals of the world.

>What has become of Mr Putin's policy?

The Kremlin called a controversial referendum in March 2003 which approved a new constitution giving Chechnya more autonomy but stipulating that it remained firmly a part of Russia. In October 2003 the head of the pro-Moscow administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, was elected president.

Both votes took place despite the continued presence in the republic of thousands of Russian soldiers, and continuing violence. Mr Kadyrov's main rivals withdrew from the election before the vote. But if President Putin thought that a pro-Moscow local leader could solve the problem, he had underestimated the determination and ruthlessness of the rebels.

Mr Kadyrov had already survived a number of assassination attempts before he was killed in Grozny stadium in a massive bomb blast. And the rebels have kept up their attacks elsewhere in Russia. Since the siege of a Moscow theatre in October 2002, when Chechen fighters took hundreds of people hostage, a series of suicide bomb attacks have been made against Russian targets.

Dozens of people were killed in an attack on the Moscow subway in February which was blamed on the separatists. There are also daily attacks on Russian troops in Chechnya and Chechen men continue to disappear as a result of Russian security operations.

The downing of a Russian helicopter in August 2002 resulted in the single largest death toll for the Russian army since the start of World War II.

>Are there any prospects for peace?

No. The Russian plan for normalisation is in disarray following the death of Mr Kadyrov. The rebels show no sign of giving up their sporadic and destructive attacks, now increasingly carried out by suicide bombers. Moscow is not willing to hold peace talks with the rebels and since 11 September 2001 there has been very little diplomatic pressure for a negotiated solution.

The US, for its part, has apparently accepted the Russian accusation that Mr Maskhadov has links with international terrorism, and says it can no longer recommend him as a negotiating partner.

>Do the rebels have links with al-Qaeda?

It seems quite likely. It has been known for years that Muslim volunteers have travelled to Chechnya to join the fight, reportedly after attending training camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

In October 2002 a man suspected of helping to carry out the 11 September attack told a German court that the alleged leader of the hijackers, Mohammed Atta, had wanted to fight in Chechnya. One of the main field commanders, until his death in 2002 at the hands of Russian forces, was an Arab called Khattab ? a veteran of the Afghan conflict with the USSR.

He was alleged to have been in occasional telephone contact with Osama Bin Laden. Intercepted telephone calls also led US officials to allege in 2002 that fighters in the Pankisi Gorge were in contact with al-Qaeda.