TERRORIST ACT IN GROZNY WON'T DISRUPT STABILIZATION PROCESS IN CHECHNYA, LEADING RUSSIAN MPs SAY

MOSCOW, May 9 (RIA Novosti) - Today's terrorist act in the Chechen capital of Grozny, which left four people dead, including President Ahmad Kadyrov, will not disrupt the stabilization process in the war-torn republic, believes Mikhail Grishankov, deputy head of the Security Committee in the State Duma, or Russia's lower house of parliament.

"The terrorist act committed [Sunday] is yet another challenge to the restoration of legal and stable authorities to the republic," Grishankov said in a RIA interview. In his opinion, Kadyrov must have been the primary target of the attack.

"Chechens themselves are trying to restore order to their republic, but not everyone likes that," the MP said. He does not think it likely that a state of emergency will be declared in Chechnya or more federal forces will be sent in to cope with the aftermath of Sunday's terror act. "The military contingent [deployed] in the republic is strong enough already," Grishankov said, adding that stabilization efforts would be carried on with by Chechen forces.

Grishankov said he expected a new republican leader to emerge in the wake of Kadyrov's assassination. But he stopped short of speculating who that leader might be.

Ahmar Zavgayev, State Duma MP representing the Chechen republic, is certain that those who masterminded the May 9 terrorist attack and those who executed it will be brought to justice. "Those who did that have nothing human to them; this is obvious to any person," he said to RIA Novosti Sunday.

Today's terror act will not be able to break the Chechen public's spirit, nor that of the Chechen leadership, Zavgayev believes. It "won't stop the process of peaceful settlement in Chechnya," he said.

Terrorists will not succeed in destabilizing the situation in the Chechen republic, holds Anatoly Popov, one-time premier of Checnya and now deputy head of Russia's Federal Agency for Housing Construction & Utilities.

Today's act of terrorism will not lead to a crisis as "the Chechen people have made their choice already," Popov said "There are people out there to work and to keep the situation under control." Popov described the May 9 terror act as an "hideous atrocity committed on a great holiday." A bomb went off this morning in the VIP section of Grozny's Dynamo stadium where ceremonies to mark V-E Day were being held. The resultant explosion killed Chechen President Ahmad Kadyrov and three other people.