The senior law enforcement official in Chechnya announced Friday that the authorities had nearly captured Aslan Maskhadov, one of the best-known leaders of the Chechen resistance, and that Maskhadov was planning to surrender soon.
The announcement, made by the first deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, in Grozny, the Chechen capital, underscored the sense of urgency driving the hunts for senior separatists. It also exposed the tension among the Russian security agencies conducting them.
Kadyrov, the outspoken leader of a paramilitary force that is publicly loyal to Moscow and composed principally of former Chechen rebels, was unequivocal, saying that Maskhadov had narrowly escaped a recent battle in the Nozhai Yurt district, and "is searching for ways to reach the federal center to hold talks on laying down arms."
"He will surrender to the authorities in the near future, or we will eliminate him," Kadyrov continued, according to the Interfax news agency.
The Kremlin has made the capture of insurgent leaders a priority in its effort to quell a guerrilla war that has spilled over Chechnya's border several times this year, including the attack last month at Middle School No.1 in Beslan, in North Ossetia.
Kadyrov, son of Akhmad Kadyrov, the Chechen president who was assassinated this spring, is young, unrestrained and violent, and often described as a wild card in Chechen affairs. Even as he spoke of imminent success, security agencies involved in the search distanced themselves from his remarks.
Major General Ilya Shabalkin, for counterterrorism forces in the North Caucasus, said he had no information that Maskhadov was contemplating surrender. "Let's talk about realistic topics," he said.
Sergei Ignatchenko, the senior spokesman for the Federal Security Service, the domestic successor to the KGB, was more circumspect but made clear the agency would not second Kadyrov's claim.
"Kadyrov said this, and we don't comment on what he says," he said.
Moscow offered a US$10.3 million reward last month for information leading to Maskhadov's arrest or capture, making him Russia's second most wanted man, behind Shamil Basayev, the Chechen guerrilla commander who has claimed responsibility for recent terror attacks, including the bombing of two passenger aircraft, a suicide bombing in Moscow and the Beslan killings in which at least 344 people died.
Although both men are considered Chechen separatists, there are stark differences between them. Maskhadov, a former Soviet artillery colonel turned rebel commander, was elected president of the breakaway republic in 1997 and held the office until the republic's brief period of de facto independence ended with the resumption of fighting in 1999.
He has been living underground for several years and has denounced the recent terror attacks.
"There can be no justification for terror against innocent citizens, and that acts like this prevent international recognition of the Chechen state," Maskhadov said, according to a statement posted on a rebel Web site that has been closely identified with him.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in