Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed on Tuesday, Russian army spokesman Ilya Shabalkin said.
Facts
“The Federal Security forces, while conducting a special operation … killed international terrorist and rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov,” Shabalkin told Reuters by telephone.
The body of Maskhadov, one of Russia’s most wanted men, was shown on Russian NTV Channel on Tuesday evening.
The death of Maskhadov, 53, would boost Russian President Vladimir Putin, who built his power largely on a tough line against the Chechen rebels. The armed campaign which Maskhadov led had brought bombings to the very heart of the Russian Federation
Shabalkin said there was fighting in the area at the time and said Maskhadov, the president of separatist forces opposed to Russian rule in the Chechen Republic, was hiding in a bunker under a building in the village of Tolstoi Yurt when he was killed.
Shabalkin added that Maskhadov’s body had been identified but the Russian news agencies said he had provided no further details on the circumstances of the death.
Mashkadov’s envoy to the Nordic countries, Usman Ferzaouli based in Copenhagen, told Reuters: “They have confirmed it many times. They have confirmed that the war in the Chechen Republic is over many times.”
“If still we and my colleagues have not heard anything, then the president (Maskhadov) is not killed but alive,” he said.
Moscow blames Maskhadov for a string of deadly operations in the Russian Federation, including an attack on a Moscow theater, a bombing opposite the Kremlin and an armed action against a school in the south Russian town of Beslan. At least 326 hostages — half of them children — died at the school in Beslan last year.
Moscow also links Maskhadov, and field commander Shamil Basayev, to groups that conducted attacks such as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Recently Maskhadov had called for talks with Moscow on Chechen demands for independence, but the Kremlin insists it will not negotiate with terrorists. Some critics of Moscow’s policies in the Chechen Republic saw Maskhadov as more moderate than Basayev and a man with whom the Kremlin could negotiate.
Russian leaders, fearing a breakaway by the Chechen Republic could trigger secession moves by other regions in the sprawling federation, have fought two wars in the Chechen Republic.
Tens of thousands were killed on both sides in the first conflict from 1994-96. Putin sent troops back into the territory in 1999 to cement his image as a strong leader ahead of his election as president in 2000. The territory suffered widespread devastation and thousands more were killed.
Comments
After Maskhadov´s death position of Russian HR defenders concerning situation in the Chechen Republic is unequivocal- it is a step backwards and everething that will follow this event will be bad.
“Maskhadov wanted the peace and was ready to make something for this purpose “, – has declared Valentina Melnikova, head of the Union of soldier´s mothers committees. ” Now, after his death, the door for radical leaders and movements is open “.
´”The war will spread”, added Melnikova. “It is possible, that Russian authorities were frightened of the peace process beginning”, she considers.
“Now all region has become a hot point “, – said Ida Kuklina.
“For me news about Maskhadov´s destruction – not so good news. It was the person with whom it would be possible to begin peace talks “, – has declared Lyudmila Alekseeva, the chairman of the Moscow Helsinki group. As she said, the figure similar to Aslan Maskhadov with whom it would be possible to begin negotiations, in the Chechen Republic is not present anymore.
