MAGAS, Russia (AP) — The regional leader in the Russian province of Ingushetia is defending a land swap that has triggered protests in the volatile North Caucasus region.

Ingushetia's leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov argued Monday that the deal he signed last month with the neighboring province of Chechnya would help strengthen stability.

Many in Ingushetia saw the agreement to exchange unpopulated plots of agricultural land as hurting the region's interests, and the protest against the deal has continued for a fifth straight day Monday.

The tensions over the land swap reflect deep-running distrust between the two mostly Muslim regions, which share the same language but have been divided by land and other disputes. Chechnya and Ingushetia formed one republic during Soviet times, but split after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.