Officials declared Chechnya’s Kremlin-appointed leader the winner in the region\'s presidential vote, a widely expected outcome after his main challengers withdrew or were removed from an election condemned by critics as a sham but promoted by Moscow as a step toward peace. With more than 77 percent of the votes counted, acting President Akhmad Kadyrov had 81.1 percent, regional election commission chairman Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov told reporters in Grozny on Monday. Kadyrov said he would ask the Russian parliament to renew an amnesty that was offered to rebels during the summer and expired in September. He said 171 fighters had surrendered under the amnesty and that many of them were now serving in his security service, headed by his son Ramzan, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. Kadyrov\'s security service is widely feared and accused of kidnappings and killings. Some voters said they shared the Kremlin\'s conviction that the election — held as the war enters its fifth year — was a sign of civil order returning to Chechnya. No Western observers were present for the low-tech voting. At some polling places, paper ballots were dropped into taped-up cardboard cartons. Human rights advocates questioned the fairness of a vote held during a war and said the election was heavily tilted in favor of Kadyrov. Major Western governments including the United States have been cautious about criticism, expressing hope that the vote can help foster a political solution of the conflict. The election was widely criticized after two candidates who rated higher than Kadyrov in early opinion polls disappeared from the ballot — one withdrawing to become an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the other barred from running by the Chechen Supreme Court. Six virtually unknown candidates ran against Kadyrov, who was once allied with the rebels. (AP)