] Chechen leader and resistance commander Aslan Maskhadov
] was killed on 8 March in a special operation in
] Tolstoi-Yurt, north of Grozny, Russian agencies reported,
] citing Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian
] federal forces in the North Caucasus. Maskhadov's envoy
] in London, Akhmed Zakaev, confirmed Maskhadov's death in
] a telephone call to RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service later
] on 8 March.
]
]
] The Chechen State Defense Committee of which Maskhadov
] was chairman has issued a statement, posted on
] chechenpress.co.uk, saying that it assumes full executive
] and legislative power in accordance with the Chechen
] Constitution. AFP on 8 March quoted Zakaev as saying that
] the committee will meet within days to name a new
] chairman. Kavkazweb.net quoted Zakaev as explicitly
] excluding the transfer of power to radical field
] commander Shamil Basaev, the next in seniority and
] experience after Maskhadov, and the commander most
] qualified and able to coordinate and control future
] resistance activities in the North Caucasus. Zakaev
] pointed out that Basaev is no longer a member of the
] State Defense Committee, but he added that it is
] essential to take into account Basaev's authority with
] the various resistance detachments, which are capable of
] operating autonomously for months at a time. Zakaev
] denied that any split in the ranks of the resistance is
] imminent, pointing out that a similar situation arose in
] 1996 following the death of then Chechen President
] Djokhar Dudaev.
]