Chechen Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov has taken a leave of absence to take part in the presidential election campaign in Chechnya and has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to appoint Ruslan Alkhanov acting interior minister of Chechnya. Alu Alkhanov has characterized his successor as \"a very reliable person, a former OMON special task police commander.\" Alu Alkhanov told Putin that representatives of many groups in Chechnya have asked him to run for the presidency. \"People want the economic policy to continue, people want Kadyrov\'s cause to continue, people want further stabilization in society and in the republic,\" he said. He said he knows Chechnya and the cause that has been pursued there well enough to continue it. In response to Alkhanov\'s request to consider temporarily replacing him, Putin said Ruslan Alkhanov\'s candidacy will be discussed when Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev returns to Moscow from the meeting of CIS interior ministers currently underway in Chisinau. Putin also told Alu Alkhanov he is still responsible for creating a mechanism of public control over funds allocated for rebuilding Chechnya and compensation payments for lost housing. Putin added that Alu Alkhanov \"has managed to bring order to the republic and at the same time care for the people.\" (Interfax)