Ramzan kadyrov biography

Mr Kadyrov took power after his father's death

Ramzan Kadyrov has been inaugurated as president of Chechnya.

Born in the settlement of Tsenteroi in October 1976, Mr Kadyrov is descended from one of Chechnya's oldest and most respected clans.

In the early 1990s, as Chechnya lurched towards the first war for independence, Ramzan Kadyrov and his father, Akhmad, joined the rebel movement and fought against Russian federal forces. Akhmad Kadyrov became the rebel Mufti of Chechnya.

Father and son swapped allegiances at the beginning of the second Chechen war in 1999, the result of mediation by the Russian parliamentarian and former Minister of Nationalities, Ramazan Abdulatipov.

From this moment, they became candidates in Moscow's search for loyal Chechens to install as the republic's leaders.

They were also important in marginalising the influence of radical Islam, which began to take hold in the region amidst