1.   Along with the mountainous regions in the south, it has been a center of rebel resistance.

2.   But similar boasts have been frustrated in the past by determined rebel resistance.

3.   But the plaza became a symbol of rebel resistance in recent weeks.

4.   Confronted with fierce rebel resistance, rising casualties and bad weather, the Russian military announced Friday that it was suspending its assault on the Chechen capital, Grozny.

5.   His disappearance came among reports that Russian troops were encountering determined rebel resistance.

6.   In a weekend interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Putin repeated the military line that Russian forces have effectively crushed rebel resistance.

7.   Russian commanders have also been surprised by the stubborn rebel resistance and may have been compelled to rethink their tactics.

8.   Russian military officials vowed to wipe out the last remnants of the rebel resistance in special operations mounted by the Russian military.

9.   So Putin sought to paint a brighter picture Saturday, reassuring voters on a state-owned radio station that Russia had broken the back of the rebel resistance.

10.   State-owned ORT television said the military hoped to break the main rebel resistance by Monday.