Politician says Maskhadov's death makes no difference

　　Chechen rebels vowed yesterday to carry on their separatist fight against Russia following the death of their leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed after Russian special forces cornered him in an underground bunker in northern Chechnya.

　　Russian legislators hailed Maskhadov's death as a sign that Russia was on the right track in its anti-terrorist campaign, as they call the fight against Islamic militants in Chechnya and neighboring regions.

　　Russia's federal Security Service chief announced on Tuesday that Maskhadov had been killed in a special operation in the town of Tolstoy-Yurt. The rebel leader's envoy in London, Akhmed Zakayev, confirmed the 53-year-old guerrilla commander's death and the ITAR-Tass news agency later cited the military commandant for Chechnya, Lieutenant General Grigory Fomenko, as saying Maskhadov's body was identified.

　　"When terrorists feel they are literally being trailed, fighting groups are systematically being detained, when in fact a top leader is eliminated, this creates an atmosphere in which there's no place for terrorist attacks," said Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the security committee of the lower house of parliament. But Chechen rebels vowed to continue fighting.

　　With maskhadov's "violent death ... a new period has begun in the modern history of the Russian-Chechen military confrontation, which not only allows for no negotiations, but also for no end to the war," rebel ideologue Movladi Udugov wrote on a rebel Website, Kavkaz-Center.

　　Chechnya's kremlin-backed president ventured that the killing would make no difference.

　　"Whether there is Maskhadov or not, the situation in Chechnya will not change," ITAR-Tass quoted President Alu Alkhanov as saying. "Maskhadov was just a symbol in the hands of the terrorist Basayev. He had no other significance."

　　Russia's kommersant daily speculated that either Basayev, a much-feared Wahhabi Muslim warlord, or his equally radical aide, self-styled Chechen State Security Minister Doku Umarov, would take over command of the rebels. In that case, "the terror will only intensify," the newspaper said.

　　Maskhadov, a comparative moderate and secularist among the separatists, was overshadowed by Basayev, who has taken responsibility for terror attacks ranging from the seizure of a Moscow theater in 2002 to the Beslan school seizure in September.

　　Kommersant, citing a participant in the special operation that killed the rebel leader, said special forces kicked in the door of the house and the owner, a distant Maskhadov relative, confirmed the rebel leader was in the basement. Russian representatives negotiated with Maskhadov for nearly an hour, using a former aide to the rebel leader who was in the bunker as a go-between.

　　Maskhadov refused to surrender, and after his three associates came out of the bunker, the special forces threw grenades in, Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Kommersant.

　　Tolstoy-Yurt residents reported hearing dull explosions, Kommersant said, but it cast some doubt on the account because the body shown on television showed no obvious signs of blast injuries.

　　Four men were detained, including the house's owner, Major General Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for Russian forces in Chechnya, said yesterday.

　　Meanwhile, law enforcement agents detained two suspected rebels in southern Russia, one of them believed to be an ally of Basayev, police officials said.

　　Ruslan batayev, a suspected Chechen militant chief, was detained in the city of Khasavyurt in Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry's branch in Dagestan, Abdul Musayev. Authorities also detained another suspected rebel Dzhabrail Khadayev, a resident of Khasavyurt.

　　(The Associated Press)