Posted on 03/10/2005 12:07:53 AM PST by Racehorse
MOSCOW - The killing of top Chechen rebel Aslan Maskhadov leaves the insurgency largely in the hands of Shamil Basayev, the most brutal of the warlords — a development that could undermine any chance of peace even as the slain leader's son disputes who his father's successor will be.
On Wednesday, there was uncertainty over what the death might mean, with Russia facing the fundamental question of how much an insurgency depends on its leaders. Russia hopes the Chechen insurgency might be hobbled, with a series of militant leaders systematically eliminated over the years.
The Chechens might suffer diplomatically too, because Maskhadov was respected by some European mediators as a possible negotiator — a mantle not likely to pass to Basayev. The death of the more moderate Chechen leader could leave the Europeans with no major figure they can push the Russians to negotiate with.
The most brutal of the Chechen warlords, Basayev has claimed responsibility for a string of terror attacks, including the terrifying school hostage-taking in southern Russian in September in which more than 330 were killed, about half of them children.
Maskhadov's son, however, said that according to a 2002 agreement between Maskhadov and other Chechen leaders, Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, the former head of Chechnya's Supreme Court, would be the next leader — not Basayev.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Next!
Amazing how the MSM tries to spin the death of bad guy as creating a worse situation...no matter how many times this premise is proven wrong.
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