Chechen rebel says Russia has lost control
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-11 09:56

A rebel spokesman said Thursday the Kremlin was "absolutely helpless" and had lost control over the conflict in Chechnya despite Moscow's tactical success in killing a top insurgent commander earlier this week.

Russian forces killed Aslan Maskhadov on Tuesday, and Chechens, who have fled the fighting in their home province for refuge in the Azerbaijan capital, mourned their commander who had fought the Russian army to a standstill in the early 1990s.

After the Russians withdrew, Maskhadov became Chechnya's first elected president from 1996-98, only to lose power as Russia sought to reassert control in 1999 in a conflict that still rages.

Umar Khambiyev, who was Maskhadov's representative for peace talks that never came about, said the slaying of the rebel chieftain will offer the Russians little respite from the violence and bloodshed they suffer as the try to subdue the separatist Caucasus republic.

"Today, Russia needs negotiations more than ever. ... Russia is in a dead-end situation," Khambiyev said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "is absolutely helpless in the present situation in Chechnya," Khambiyev said.

Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, a little-known Islamic judge, emerged Thursday as Maskhadov's successor, and Khambayev said he did not know if Sadulayev would pursue Maskhadov's aim of negotiating an end to the war.

But Khambiyev denied reports Sadulayev was an adherent of Wahhabism, the strict Islamic sect that has roots in Saudi Arabia and inspired both al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden and the leading Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev.

Basayev has claimed responsibility for the bloodiest terror attacks, including the seizure of a Moscow theater in 2002 and the terrifying school hostage-taking in southern Russian in September in which more than 330 were killed, about half of them children.

"Today in Chechnya they call anyone who doesn't drink or smoke and who prays a Wahhabi," Khambiyev said.

He also denied Russian news reports that Sadulayev was a Saudi national, saying he was born and raised in Chechnya.

"He may have been to Egypt, but never Saudi Arabia," the spokesman said.

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