This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2014

Chechen terror leader who took over from killed sucessor dies in shoot out "terrorists have been virtually beheaded"

June 17, 2006

Chechnya's rebel leader killed by pro-Russia forces
By MICHAEL HIRST
(Filed: 18/06/2006)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/18/wchech18.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/18/ixnews.html

Chechnya's pro-Russian leadership claimed yesterday to have decapitated the country's separatist movement by killing its leader, Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev.

The self-styled president of Chechnya's rebels died during a gun battle in his home town of Argun, 10 miles east of Grozny. A member of Russia's intelligence agency and a local policeman were also killed in the shoot-out. One other rebel was reported killed while two escaped.

Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev
Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev

Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's prime minister, said Sadulayev's death had dealt a "severe blow" to the separatists.

"The terrorists have been virtually beheaded... and they are never going to recover from it," he said.

Mr Sadulayev had been appointed in 2005 to replace Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed last year. Police stormed a house in Argun where Sadulayev was hiding with the three other rebels.

NTV television showed footage of Mr Kadyrov and his lieutenants standing over the bloodied body of the dead rebel leader. The prime minister, dressed in combat fatigues, said a member of Sadulayev's inner circle had betrayed his leader to the authorities for 1,500 roubles (£30).

"He urgently needed a dose of heroin, so he sold his leader for heroin," said Mr Kadyrov with a grin.

Mr Kadyrov said rebels under Sadulayev's command had been planning to mount a terrorist attack in Argun during the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations in St Petersburg next month.

Mr Kadyrov pledged to hunt down Shamil Basayev and Doku Umarov, the warlords in charge of Chechnya's main rebel forces. Mr Umarov, 42, was named yesterday by the rebel leadership as Sadulayev's successo

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2014