14 March 2005, 23:12
More details of Maskhadov's death
There is still no reliable information in Chechnya about the details of Aslan Maskhadov's death. The opinion is widespread in the republic that the leader of Ichkeria was killed before 8 March and that quite another republican district was the place of his death. People in Dokur-Aul (Tolstoy-Yurt) also think Maskhadov was already dead when brought to the village.
"Maskhadov was not killed in Tolstoy-Yurt. It is not only my opinion, but also that of my fellow villagers," Supyan, a 47-year-old Tolstoy-Yurt resident, told Caucasian Knot. "His body was brought to this village, and then the military simulated an attempt to capture him and his destruction."
According to Supyan, any large-scale operation by special services in Tolstoy-Yurt in the morning on 8 March is out of the question. "Service men in armoured vehicles entered the village on 8 March, and two helicopters were in the air. I live not far from the house where Maskhadov was allegedly killed. Well, there was nothing like a siege, skirmishes, hours of negotiations or anything. What we heard was only a small plop, a grenade explosion, probably. And later they announced they had found and killed Maskhadov here."
Besides, Supyan knows nothing about the bunker in the house of Musa Yusupov where Maskhadov was hiding. "I have known Musa Yusupov for a long time. He is the nephew of Azim Yusupov, a well-known Chechen writer. He was an ordinary welder. And he has never been involved in politics or been Maskhadov's supporter. I think the military chose Yusupov's house to show the dead Maskhadov because there was a middle-sized cellar they called a 'bunker'," the man said.
Meanwhile, many in Chechnya believe they had wanted to trap Maskhadov by inviting him to discuss the details of possible talks with the Russian side. People think it explains the fact that the killed man had computers, an archive and other documents with him. At the same time, the version of Aslan Maskhadov's death in Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt district in the southeast is considered the most probable here.
"All Russian TV channels showed Maskhadov's body many times. He is reported to have been killed in a grenade explosion, but his body does not bear any marks of shrapnel wounds for some reason. He was just shot dead. And it was not done on 8 March, but a few days earlier. It may not even have been by Federal Security Service (FSB) officers. It looks most like the handiwork of the security service Ramzan Kadyrov commands. What they tell us is a blatant lie. The world will not learn about the details of his death as well as the death of Dzhokhar Dudayev soon," a Chechen human rights activist thinks.
A Russian security officer told about some details of the operation in Chechnya for eliminating the separatist leader. He says Maskhadov was turned in by local residents who let know a major field commander was hiding in Tolstoy-Yurt. Almost all Alfa personnel were sent to Chechnya, but only three people knew about the goal of the special operation.
The special service officer who appeared in Vesti Nedeli ("News of the Week") television program said Maskhadov "emerged in various places in Chechnya at different times" and that in his letters to addressees abroad he "complained that he did not stay in one village for more than 48 hours."
A local resident told security services a major field commander was hiding in Tolstoy-Yurt. Almost all personnel of the FSB Special Centre (the former Alfa unit) was then sent to Chechnya, but just three of those involved in the special operation knew where exactly they were going. The village was sealed off and the hiding place was searched for in several houses, the officer said.
It should be noted this information contradicts that of Kommersant newspaper; Local residents said just one area was sealed off at once in the morning on 8 March: Suvorov Street and the adjacent Kurgannaya and Nuradilov streets. Maskhadov was searched for only in the house of Musa Yusupov, a 40-year-old welder.
The special service officer also denied the version that Maskhadov might have been killed before, with reports of this delayed until 8 March. Maskhadov was killed on Sunday, 6 March, according to some information. A Nozhay-Yurt district resident allegedly disclosed his whereabouts for a big sum of money. A group under Ramzan Kadyrov's command went to capture Maskhadov. However, Kadyrov decided not to claim responsibility for Maskhadov's death for fear of disgrace and vengeance on the part of his relatives, so he asked federal special services to attribute the operation to other structures.
The special service officer said it was not true. "In one of the houses we found evidence that there was or had been a gang leader," he says. "In particular, pieces of hand-written documents were found, a sort of reports to Maskhadov; a computer thrown onto a sofa and a lot of phone cards, although neither the master of the house nor his family members had mobile phones."
The entrance to a secret hiding place was soon found, too, ITAR-TASS says. It was suggested the master of the house should "say who hid there, but he declined, resolutely, and only said the one hiding there would surrender under no circumstances." The manhole led to a special bunker built back before 1999 when Maskhadov was president of Chechnya. "The master of the house knew the shelter was being built, but he did not know for what purpose," the special service officer said. He was later visited by a "courier" who "warned that senior quests would live at his place from October 2004, i.e. the (Muslim) Uraza festival."
No talks with Maskhadov were held during the special operation. "We assumed Maskhadov would not surrender, we had every reason to think so. We knew Maskhadov wore a 'suicide bomber's belt'," the officer said. He added the federal force had two options: "either to pull down the whole house and try to open the bunker or sacrifice a part of the house, in order to reduce damage to the property, and unseal the manhole alone."
After the explosion, "the first to climb out the bunker was Vakhid Murdashev (a Maskhadov bodyguard) and the first question to him was if Maskhadov was there. He said, 'Yes, he is there.' When asked, 'Is he alive?' Murdashev said, 'I don't think so.' Maskhadov's nephew Eliskhan Khadzhimuradov surrendered along with the bodyguard."
When the special unit got into the hiding place, they found there weapons, explosives, communications and large archives with a lot of "hand- and typewritten documents" which the special service officer says "reflect both Maskhadov's sentiments and his plans and the plans of people who thought they were associated with him."
