2010-08-02 15:35

MOSCOW - The leader of Chechnya's separatist militants, who claimed responsbility for the Moscow subway bombings that killed 40 people in March, has purportedly announced in a video posted on YouTube that he is stepping down.

Doku Umarov, regarded in the United States and Russia as a terrorist, says in the grainy footage that he is ceding leadership to a younger and more energetic deputy. The authenticity of the video could not be verified, and a website sympathetic to the rebels of the Russian province was down on Monday.

The 46-year-old Umarov took over as so-called Emir of the Caucasus Emirate?- the separatists' top post in Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region in 2006. The rebels seek an independent Shariah state.

Umarov has claimed responsibility for several recent terrorist attacks in Russia.