http://www.newsone.ca/ottawarecorder/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=11991

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - A brawl between hundreds of Caucasus migrants and local Russians — all armed with metal rods, clubs and knives — killed an ethnic Chechen in southern Russia, officials said Saturday.

A dispute between an ethnic Chechen guard at a Stavropol casino and a local resident triggered the fighting, which ended when riot police fired warning shots into the air, authorities said.

Police sought to downplay any ethnic element in the brawl, but Russia has seen a marked rise in xenophobia and racism in recent years, with repeated attacks on foreigners, Jews and dark-skinned migrants.

Last August, a fight in the northwestern town of Kondopoga that left two local residents dead triggered anger against Chechen migrants blamed for the killings. In the days that followed, crowds burned a restaurant and stores owned by Chechens and other migrants from the Caucasus and demanded their eviction.