The Hindu : International : Chechnya: new leader's identity hidden

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Friday, Mar 11, 2005

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International

Chechnya: new leader's identity hidden

By Nick Paton Walsh

MOSCOW, MARCH 10. Chechen separatists quickly appointed a successor to the killed leader Aslan Maskhadov yesterday, withholding his name but making it clear that it was not Russia's most wanted man, the mastermind of hostage taking, Shamil Basayev.

Their spokesman, Akhmed Zakayev, said the name was being withheld for now, but the new leader was in his early 30s and part of a new generation of separatists.

``He is young and energetic, a worthy guy with authority in the republic,'' Mr. Zakayev said. ``It is not Basayev,'' he added. Nor was it Dzhokar Umarov, another radical militant accused by Moscow of terrorism. But he said the death of Maskhadov, killed on Tuesday by Russian special forces in a village north of the Chechen capital Grozny, would boost the position of radicals such as Mr. Basayev. Chechens enraged by his body being displayed on television would ``not make [Russia] wait long for their response,'' he added.

Mr. Basayev said a senior Islamic cleric, Abdul Khalim, should take over as interim leader, in a statement that also praised Maskhadov's ``unprecedented bravery''.

A senior Russian security source said the death would be ``a turning point'', and that ``little by little the [Chechen] military arm will leave for somewhere like London to hide, or we will destroy them.'' He added that Russian forces had recovered various things from Maskhadov's personal archive, including his writings and videotapes, which were being examined.

Ilya Shabalkin, a spokesman for the Russian forces in the north Caucasus, told Interfax news agency on Tuesday that one of 80 guerillas arrested a fortnight ago in Chechnya might have disclosed Maskhadov's whereabouts.

Mr. Zakayev said Maskhadov was found not by betrayal, but ``entirely by chance.''

He had not been in a bunker, but in a house for the winter. —

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