免费日韩片_欧美成人精品一区二区男人小说_国产乱码一区二区三区四区_国产精品国产三级国产aⅴ入口_成人看的污污超级黄网站免费_欧美一级在线免费观看_成人午夜免费无码福利片_国产乱人伦偷精品视频色欲_aaa少妇高潮大片免费看_国产精品1234_亚洲精品国产suv一区88_中文字字幕在线中文无码_精品亚洲区_午夜九九九_国产av国片精品jk制服丝袜_色综合亚洲_亚洲成av人片无码bt种子下载_欧美色就色_精品少妇的一区二区三区四区_男人用嘴添女人下身免费视频

  Home>News Center>World
         
 

Russia paid $10M for Maskhadov information
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-16 04:15

Russia's security service announced Tuesday it paid an unprecedented $10 million to informers who helped track down the late Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov — an effort to give credibility to its renewed offer of an identical prize for the Kremlin's No. 1 foe, warlord Shamil Basayev.

The announcement appeared part of a stepped-up effort to eliminate separatist leaders whose fight against the Kremlin has dragged on for most of the past decade and destabilized much of Russia's southern flank. Chechnya's Moscow-backed president suggested it was part of a plan to rely increasingly on the region's local population in its attempts to stop rebel warlords.

A corpse claimed to be that of Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov seen in this file image made from television broadcast on March 8, 2005. [AP/file]
A corpse claimed to be that of Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov seen in this file image made from television broadcast on March 8, 2005. [AP/file]
"The promise to pay a large sum of money has been realized, and the population knows that this is no myth. People will turn up who will independently trace Basayev and his underlings and report to the proper authorities," the Interfax news agency quoted Alu Alkhanov as saying.

"I am certain that Basayev can now hardly feel calm and sure of himself in any region or settlement at all, in a forest or in the mountains," he said.

Russian authorities did not say who received the reward, and there was no way to confirm the payment. But the $10 million would be the largest ever given by the Russian government for a fugitive.

A year ago, U.S. authorities said a tipster who pointed American forces toward the hideout of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's two sons had been paid the bulk of $30 million in reward money; the reward offered $15 million for each of the sons. The United States said at the time that the $25 million reward for help in capturing Saddam was not likely to be given out because he was located by the U.S. military.

The United States has also offered $25 million each for al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and his top operative in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Maskhadov was killed last week in a Russian special forces operation in the Chechen village of Tolstoy-Yurt, authorities said. The security service, known by its Russian acronym FSB, had said in September that it would pay a $10 million bounty for information leading to the killing or capture of him or Basayev — who remains at large and has claimed responsibility for attacks including the deadly raid on a school in the town of Beslan.

Basayev is now seen as the most powerful rebel figure, despite the appointment of a little-known former Islamic judge to replace Maskhadov.

The killing of Maskhadov was a victory for the security services, who have struggled to penetrate the tightly knit clan society of Chechnya. Maskhadov and other rebel leaders appeared able to move about fairly freely in the region, where they boasted of a large network of collaborators. Previous claims that their killing or capture was imminent had never borne out.

The FSB said it would be prepared to help the people who provided the information on Maskhadov by relocating them to another region of Russia or to a Muslim country, and offered similar guarantees for informants on Basayev's whereabouts.

"The Russian Federal Security Service confirms its preparedness to guarantee personal security and payment of an appropriate monetary award to citizens providing trustworthy information on the whereabouts of the terrorist leaders," the FSB statement said. Spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko said the agency "guarantees the payment of a $10 million reward for information about Basayev's whereabouts."

Despite the pledge to protect informers, fears of rebel revenge could hamper a strategy of relying on the population of a region where people closely watch their neighbors.

"The people who got the reward face huge risks," said Human Rights Watch's Alexander Petrov, an expert on Chechnya who repeatedly traveled to the region.

The announcement of the payment came a day after authorities said they blew up the house where Maskhadov was killed because they feared it could have been booby trapped. But rights activists and government critics questioned the motives for the building's destruction, which added to the secrecy surrounding the raid, and said announcing the reward could have been a way to affirm the official accounts of Maskhadov's death.

While federal authorities said Maskhadov had been hiding in a basement bunker, a woman who lived in the house with her family denied he had been there and said she suspected Russian forces may have brought him there hours before announcing his death. Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian columnist and expert on Chechnya, said she believed the house was blown up to destroy evidence.

The popular daily Moskovsky Komsomolets added to the speculation Tuesday, saying that forces loyal to Chechen Deputy Prime Ramzan Kadyrov could have captured, interrogated and killed Maskhadov in another location before bringing his body to Tolstoy-Yurt. It said the basement was not ventilated, making it highly unlikely that Maskhadov could have used it for shelter.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Law against secession to benefit Straits ties

 

   
 

Rice: US doesn't have a posture against China

 

   
 

Back words with action, Dalai told

 

   
 

July by-election will reveal new HK chief

 

   
 

Heilongjiang coal mine accident kills 17

 

   
 

Russia paid $10M for Maskhadov information

 

   
  Rice: US doesn't have a posture against China
   
  Israeli troops set to pull back from Jericho
   
  Harvard leader loses no-confidence vote
   
  Back words with action, Dalai told
   
  Italy to pull troops from Iraq in Sept.
   
  Russia paid $10M for Maskhadov information
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Ukraine military denies downing Russian airliner
   
Russia razes site of Maskhadov's killing
   
Heilongjiang vows to boost trade with Russia
   
5 Russian school massacre suspects killed
   
Russia angry with U.S. human rights report
   
Rebels attack police station in Chechnya
   
Iran, Russia delay nuclear fuel deal
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement