Posted on 04/27/2002 2:44:35 AM PDT by Spar
April 27, 2002
Russia Releases Tape as Proof of Rebel's Death
By MICHAEL WINES
MOSCOW, April 26 — The day after Russia said it had killed the Arab-born guerrilla known as Khattab, who has epitomized its inability to subdue its rebellious Chechnya province, the Kremlin released a videotape tonight that appeared to show him dead and being mourned by aides.
In its evening news program Vesti, the state-run television network RTR said Khattab had been "liquidated" on March 19 or 20 by the Russian counterintelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, in a top-secret operation.
The network said the video had been taken from unidentified guerrillas. It was said to show Khattab's body, his face shrouded in a trademark flowing beard and a black beret, being readied for burial.
"The rebels made the tape either for history or as a report to their foreign bosses," the program stated. "Today Khattab is buried in the Chechen mountains, and there are no doubts about it."
Chechen rebels have denied the reports, but at least one rebel Web site, www.chechenpress.com, suggested tonight that they may be true.
"Khattab is far from the only field commander in Chechnya," the Web site stated. "The Chechens have already proven more than once that there is no irreplaceable leader."
If accurate, the reports signaled an important symbolic victory for the Russian government, which calls the Chechen uprising the work of Islamic terrorists and Khattab their ideological leader.
Both Russian and some American officials say Khattab has links to Osama bin Laden, and the rebel leader is widely said to have set up training camps in the Chechen highlands for guerrillas and explosive experts from a number of nations.
Tonight's video, which Vesti called irrefutable proof of Khattab's death, left lingering questions about his fate.
Beyond the vague claim that the tape had been "intercepted" from rebels, the government did not say how it obtained a video that, if authentic, could only have been recorded by Khattab's lieutenants.
The torso and head shown in the film appeared unmarked except for the right hand, which was clad in a black glove and appeared to be missing several fingers. Khattab is said to have lost part of one hand in a grenade explosion in Tajikistan.
The agency promised tonight to offer additional proof of its triumph in future broadcasts.
Khattab is variously described as Jordanian and as the son of a wealthy Saudi Arabian family, like Mr. bin Laden, but he has declined to clarify that issue.
Khattab has said that he first came to Chechnya in 1995, where he served under a second self-described Islamic revolutionary, Shamil Basayev. Khattab also said in a 1999 interview with The New York Times that he knew Mr. bin Laden from his days in Afghanistan, but that the two had had no further contact.
Russian officials have portrayed him as a ruthless and bloodthirsty killer, and he is said to be behind some of the most telling attacks on Russian forces. His men are said to have killed 53 Russian troops and wounded 52 more in a single attack near the end of the first Chechen war in the mid-1990's.
Khattab has denied engaging in terrorism. Russian officials vigorously dispute that, saying that he helped set up at least some of 17 Chechen training camps for guerrillas and fighters from across the Middle East and the Caucasus with Mr. bin Laden's support.
Jordanian born Chechen rebel commander Omar Ibn al Khattab poses in his staff quarters in Vedeno, 28 miles (45 kms) south of Grozny, Dec. 14, 1999. A Federal Security Services spokesman was quoted by the Interfax news agency Thursday April 25, 2002, as saying Khattab was killed in an operation by Russian forces in Chechnya. (AP Photo) - Note his mangled hand which is gloved in the photo
The rotting corpse of Khattab, its gaping mouth held closed by a strip of cloth.
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