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.
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