MOSCOW, May 17 (News Agencies) - Bislan Gantamirov, a leading pro-Moscow Chechen, on Thursday resigned from his post as mayor of the separatist capital Grozny in response to a string of bitter disputes with other federal officials.
ITAR-TASS quoted a statement from Gantamirov's office as saying that he "could no longer continue holding this post."
His regional administration rivals however said Gantamirov had been forced out after failing to make headway in turning the shelled-out capital into a city that could be lived in since his appointment last June.
A controversial figure, Gantamirov has escaped a series of assassination attempts, his turbulent career highlighting the difficulty Moscow faces in stamping its authority on the turbulent province.
Serving a six-year jail term for embezzlement, Gantamirov was released from prison in 1999 and granted a pardon in return for raising a Chechen militia to fight alongside Russian forces in Chechnya.
More than 19 months after Russia launched its military intervention in Chechnya on October 1, 1999, separatists continue to carry out punishing attacks against Chechens collaborating with Moscow.
Since his appointment last June, the top civilian administrator in the republic, Akhmad Kadyrov, has also been the target of a series of assassination attempts by pro-independence fighters who have a bounty on his head.
Kadyrov and Gantamirov have also engaged in ugly public feuds, both seeking to win Moscow's trust while escaping reprisal from mistrustful Chechens.
