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Security is tight in Chechnya ahead of presidential elections, which some say have been fixed by Moscow.

A Russian special forces soldier wearing a mask patrols Grozny with a poster of Kadyrov in the background. [Reuters]

About 16,000 police are to guard the 425 polling stations while truck traffic within and between all major Chechen communities has been banned until the voting is over Sunday. Markets have been closed and Grozny sealed off to outsiders.

Russia hopes the poll, which comes four years after its troops returned to the separatist republic, will be seen as legitimizing local autonomy.

Russian forces and its administration have come under a number of rebel attacks, including a truck bombing of the Chechen administration headquarters, a Moscow theater siege and a twin suicide bombing at a rock concert.

Six candidates are competing for the presidency, but the favorite is the former rebel, who became the Kremlin's top civilian in Chechnya in 2000, Akhmad Kadyrov.

His two closest rivals have either withdrawn or been disqualified.

Aslambek Aslakhanov, who represents Chechnya in the national parliament, dropped out to become an adviser to Putin, while Malik Saidullayev's candidacy was invalidated the same day by the Chechen Supreme Court.

The elections follow a March referendum in which Chechens approved a constitution that confirms the republic's status as part of Russia.

The Russian parliament has discussed offering Chechnya substantial autonomy, but no clear terms have been stated. Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to speak to rebel leaders and has branded the battle as Russia's war on terror.

The Kremlin has been grappling with insurgency in the region for the past decade, having pulled out in 1996 after a disastrous 20-month war. They returned in 1999.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement that the elections will proceed in a "free, democratic atmosphere."

But Western election observers have refused to monitor the polls because of security concerns.

Separatist rebels have vowed to fight on against Russian forces in a conflict in which tens of thousands of people have died or made homeless.

Separatist and fugitive President Aslan Maskhadov was quoted by Reuters as saying the poll will make no difference to his campaign to push Russian troops out.

Maskhadov served as elected leader between 1997 and 1999, a period during which Russia withdrew its troops and Chechnya had de facto independence.

Kadyrov has warned that if he gets elected it will take time for Chechnya to become stable.

"We have a long time still to fight with the bandits," he told The Associated Press.

"In five years, I don't think we'll be going out for walks at night."

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