TsIK Chairman Veshnyakov told journalists in Moscow on 25 August that the commission has asked the Federal Security Service (FSB) to provide protection for candidates in the 5 October Chechen presidential election. Chechen Election Commission Chairman Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov said that once registered, presidential candidates will be provided with security guards and mobile phones. But three days later, Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii said in an interview with \"Rossiiskaya gazeta\" that Chechen presidential candidates would not be provided with security guards. \"The Moscow Times\" reported on 8 August that would-be presidential candidates soliciting support from voters were being subjected to harassment and intimidation by security guards loyal to Chechen administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov. (RFE/RL)