"The gradual pullout of non-permanent defence department and interior ministry troops ... is possible now that the republic's law enforcement bodies have become a unified whole that works closely with federal forces," Interfax quoted Kadyrov, who is prime minister in Chechnya's Moscow-backed administration, as saying.

Putin ordered the troop withdrawal in a secret order on August 2 that was made public in state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Tuesday.

Russian daily Vedomosti quoted an unnamed defence ministry official as saying that the pullout concerned about 17,000 troops.

The newspaper said that the president's order was a political victory for the 29-year-old Kadyrov. He heads his own security force, known as the Kadyrovtsy, that human rights activists accuse of widespread abuses.

Vedomosti also quoted an unnamed official in the Chechen secret service as saying that most non-permanent troops had already been withdrawn.

The Moscow-backed administration in Grozny has spearheaded the Kremlin's attempts to stabilise Chechnya since Russia's military launched an assault on the territory in 1999 to push out the republic's rebel administration.

"The Chechen people deeply understand and recognise the threat that (Islamic extremism) has posed them and have stood up to that danger virtually united, completely supporting the activity of law enforcement agencies," Kadyrov said.

Kadyrov, whose assassinated father was a previous president of Chechnya, is seen as a likely candidate to succeed the current head of state, Alu Alkhanov, after he turns 30, the youngest legal age for the job.

Kadyrov said the death last month of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who led a campaign for Chechnya's independence for nearly a decade, was a new era for the republic.

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