http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/09/wchech09.xml
Russia reports killing of Chechen outlaw
By Julius Strauss in Moscow
(Filed: 09/03/2005)
Aslan Maskhadov, the former Red Army colonel who led Chechnya's
resistance of Moscow for almost a decade, was reportedly killed
yesterday after apparently being cornered by Russian troops.
The body of Maskhadov lies in a pool of blood and water
Russian television showed close-up pictures last night of what it
claimed was the body of the Chechen leader lying in a pool of blood
and water, dressed in only a pair of combat trousers and socks. What
looked like a bullet hole scarred his left cheek.
On the ground nearby lay an old Kalashnikov assault rifle and some
personal possessions including a Chechen flag. A ladder led into a
deep hole in the ground. The army claimed it was the rebel leader's
last hiding place.
The killing of Maskhadov, 53, gives President Vladimir Putin a badly
needed boost at a time when his popularity is slipping. Mr Putin was
elected five years ago on a platform of restoring Russian pride but,
despite his army's brutal tactics in the volatile republic, the
bloodshed in Chechnya continues.
Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia's federal security service
(FSB), was shown on Russian television officially informing Mr Putin
that Maskhadov had been killed in what was called "a special operation".
Mr Putin, mindful of the many false rumours of Maskhadov's death in
the past, asked the FSB chief to double check the corpse's identity.
The killing is certainly a setback for Chechen rebels, who have been
seeking to force the Russians out of their republic since 1994.
But it is unlikely to halt terrorist strikes against Russian targets
such as that against a school in the southern town of Beslan last
September which ended in the deaths of more than 325, many of them
children.
That attack, and others against Russian aircraft and the Moscow metro,
are thought to have been masterminded by Shamil Basayev, a hard-line
Islamist who remains at large.
Maskhadov, like Basayev, first fought against the Russians in the
1994-1996 war. After the Russians' defeat and their humiliating
retreat from what the rest of the world still regarded as Russian
territory, Maskhadov was elected president of a republic that enjoyed
de facto independence.
During his time as leader, he was feted by western supporters and once
had tea in the House of Commons. But at home he lost support after
failing to rein in Islamic radicals and halt widespread banditry.
In 1999, Mr Putin, then prime minister, oversaw an assault to reclaim
Chechnya, an offensive that forced Maskhadov and his fighters into
hiding. Since then they have conducted a low-level war against the
Russian forces and pro-Moscow Chechens.
But in recent years Maskhadov, who had a �5.5 million prize on his
head, faded from prominence even as Basayev, a warlord rather than a
military commander or politician, raised the stakes by waging a
ruthless terrorist war against Russia.
While on the run, Maskhadov's success at evading capture was a source
of constant irritation and embarrassment to Moscow.
Despite Russia's attempts to tar Maskhadov with the same brush as
Basayev, he was considered by many to be a relative moderate by many
and recently called a unilateral ceasefire to encourage the Russians
to talk peace.
His envoy, Akhmed Zakayev, who lives in London after being awarded
political asylum two years ago, said the killing would do little to
halt resistance to Russian rule.
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