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| Caucasus |
| Maskhadov goes from president to potentate... |
| 2002-11-10 |
| Deputy military commandant for Chechnya Major-General Ibragim Suleimenov has told the press that according to information from the last conference of the Chechen separatist leaders, received from intelligence agents, the so called President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov had resigned from his post. Well, yessss... After the fiasco in Moscow, where the Chechen movement he heads lost any credibility, that's a reasonable move. He'll probably go into hiding and die of his own hand a few years from now... Right? At the same time, Maskhadov was elected the Supreme Emir of Chechnya’s Mojaheds and rebel commander Shamil Basayev received the post of the head of military command of the Supreme Emirate. The report contradicts with earlier statements of some Russian media that on November 5 Maskhadov relieved Basayev of all his duties after the latter claimed responsibility for preparation of the major terrorist act in Moscow’s Nord-Ost theatre on October 23-26. So they decided they're not going to be a "republic" anymore. They're a Supreme Emirate, just like Mullah Omar used to have. Wonder if Aslan will adopt the title of "Defender of the Faithful" and buy a turban? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |