Rebels have branded Kadyrov a traitor

"I see no other way of achieving the goals I have set myself," Mr Kadyrov said on Russian radio.

His announcement comes a few days after a referendum on a new constitution in Chechnya which would cement the republic's place within the Russian Federation.

Moscow has sought to portray the referendum as the start of a political settlement of the conflict in the troubled region.

But human rights organisations have questioned the legitimacy of the vote in conditions of war.

'Blatantly faked'

According to preliminary results, almost 96% of those who went to the polls said "yes" to the new constitution.

The legitimacy of the vote in conditions of war has been questioned

Presidential and parliamentary elections later this year were also overwhelmingly approved.

Election officials, quoted by the Russian Interfax news agency, said 89.5% of listed voters had taken part.

The referendum results are to be finalised on Thursday.

But reporters in Grozny have cast doubt on the turnout claims, saying that they saw relatively few voters in polling stations.

And independent analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, quoted by AFP news agency, said the referendum was "a Soviet-style election, with the results blatantly faked".

Autonomy deal

Russia hopes that the elections will provide Chechnya with credible local authorities to replace the government established by Moscow.

It then aims to negotiate a deal on autonomy with the new authorities.

Mr Kadyrov is a former mufti of the republic who turned against the rebels and has been branded by them as a traitor.

The rebels opposed the referendum and are still actively resisting Russian forces, particularly in southern mountainous areas of the republic.

Russian troops first entered the republic in 1994 to remove a separatist regime set up as the Soviet Union was collapsing, but were driven out two years later.

They returned in 1999 after a Chechen-backed insurgency in neighbouring Dagestan and a series of apartment-block bombings in Russian cities, widely blamed on Chechen militants.