Doku Umarov, whose Caucasus Emirate group claimed atrocities including a deadly Moscow airport bombing in 2011 and a metro attack in 2010, said from now only security objects and officials would be targeted.
"I order all special groups that are carrying out or plan to carry out special operations in Russia to put a halt to these operations that could hurt the peaceful population," Doku Umarov said in a video address posted on the rebel mouthpiece kavkazcenter.com.
"Today`s events in Russia have shown us that Russia`s peaceful population does not support Putin`s Chekist regime and are hostages of a regime that is fighting against Islam in the Caucasus."
A "Chekist" is a commonly used term in Russian for an employee of the security services, who are hugely prominent in Russia under Putin who is himself a former KGB agent.
His once iron grip on the country has been shaken by a series of mass protests against his rule ahead of March 4 presidential elections where he is seeking a historic third Kremlin term.
"If this peaceful population does not take part in the war against Islam, our religion tells us to take care of this peaceful population and not to touch them," said Umarov.
"This population definitely does not support Putin," he added.
The video showed Umarov -- who over the last years has eluded numerous attempts by Russia on his life -- sitting in khaki fatigues in snow-covered woods flanked by two bearded comrades.
Umarov claimed to have organised suicide bombing at Moscow`s largest airport in January 2011 that killed 37 as well as the double bombings carried out by two female suicide bombers on the Moscow metro in March 2010 that killed 40 people.
His group has been seeking to impose an Islamist state throughout Russia`s mainly Muslim Northern Caucasus region and has for years been waging deadly insurgency against the Russian security forces there.
The Kremlin fought two wars against separatists in Chechnya after the fall of the Soviet Union but the rebellion then became more Islamist in tone and also spread to neighbouring Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Putin rose to power as prime minister under president Boris Yeltsin in 1999 and immediately won prominence with his hard line on the Chechnya conflict, including his notorious promise to kill the rebels "even in the outhouse".
(Uu.M014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
