Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, listens to Chechnya's Moscow-backed regional president Ramzan Kadyrov during their meeting of the Security Council in the Gorki state residence just otside Moscow, Friday, July 25, 2008. Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim region where Russian troops have been battling separatists for most of the last decade. Large-scale battles in Chechnya ended years ago, but small groups of militants continue regular hit-and-run attacks on law enforcement and federal troops.
(AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Presidential Press Service, Mikhail Klimentyev)