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October 30, 2005
Russia: Forensics Confirm Chechen Islamist Killed By Nephew
The Moscow Times states that the Chechen Islamist and leader of the separatist movement, Aslan Maskhadov (pictured) was killed by his nephew, who was also his bodyguard. The Deputy Prosecutor General, Nikolei Shepel announced that Viskhan Khadzhimuratov had killed him. There had been a dispute over whether Maskhadov had been shot by Russian soldiers or by his own bodyguards.
Maskhadov was killed on March 8, 2005 by a bullet to the head, while cornered in a bunker in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt. Mosnews reported that the ballistic analysis of the bullet, read out in a court case against four of his accomplices, proved that the bullet had come from his nephew's pistol.
The nephew, who is on trial with three others, could not remember if he had shot Maskhadov, the self-styled "president of Ichkeria". He stated however, that: "Uncle always told me to shoot him if he was wounded and they attempted to take him prisoner. He said that if he was taken prisoner they would taunt him as they taunted Saddam Hussein."
Maskhadov was wearing an explosive belt at the time of his death. Earlier, Prosecutor Nikolei Shepel stated that Maskhadov had an agreement with his accomplices "that they would shoot him dead if he faced the threat of arrest. He had an explosives-laden belt on him, but he did not want to detonate it as he wanted his accomplices to live, so he asked them to shoot him dead."
A month before his death, Maskhadov was charged in absentia with the attack upon Beslan school in North Ossetia, which claimed 330 lives. The other man responsible for Beslan, who openly bragged of his role, is Shamil Basayev, who said that Vakhita Murdashev and Viskhan Hadzhimuratov were untrustworthy people. These were with Maskhadov at his death. Basayev claimed in a statement they should have died in the bunker for their leader.
"There was no chance for FSB officers to capture Aslan. I made a belt of explosives for him last year and it was permanently with him. Dying in the name of Allah he became a 'Shakhid'. The Russians only abase themselves by idle talk over his dead body."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 30, 2005 9:20 PM
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