MOSCOW The Supreme Islamic Court of Chechnya, which has replaced Russian law by the Islamic legal code or Sharia, on Thursday suspended the Chechen Parliament but said moderate President Aslan Maskhadov could keep his job, Interfax news agency said. The breakaway Caucasus republic said the Parliament did not conform to the standards of the Sharia and would be replaced in the next three months with a Shura a consultative body comprising former warlords, Interfax added.

The court which had also been asked to rule on a complaint from Chechen Army generals accusing Maskhadov of breaching the constitution, said the president was guilty because he had employed people who collaborate with the occupation regime in other words with Russia and had cancelled a decree nationalizing an enterprise. But the court said the actions were not enough to force the president to stand down.

Maskhadov could stay in power, the court said while warning him against any repeat of the actions they had stigmatized. It was not known how Maskhadov reacted to the ruling. (AFP)