DATE=3/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA CAPTURE (L)
NUMBER=2-260129
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian special forces have captured a
prominent Chechen rebel commander and brought him to
Moscow to face terrorism charges. V-O-A Moscow
Correspondent Peter Heinlein reports the commander was
captured without a shot being fired.
TEXT: Acting President Vladimir Putin announced the
capture of one of Russia's most wanted men: Chechen
commander Salman Raduyev. He said Mr. Raduyev, who is
usually surrounded by dozens of guards, was surprised
by a Russian commando force operation and was not able
to offer resistance.
/// PUTIN ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
Mr. Putin says -- in his words -- "the most important
thing is that this criminal is in prison where he
belongs." He says Mr. Raduyev is-- as he put it --
"one of the most odious bandit leaders."
Mr. Putin says the Chechen commander faces trial for a
number of terrorist acts, including a 1998 attempt to
assassinate Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.
Mr. Raduyev also is accused of bombing two railway
stations in the northern Caucasus region.
The 33-year-old rebel commander is perhaps best known
for taking hundreds of hostages during a raid into
neighboring Dagestan in the last Chechen war, from
1994 to 1996. His group was surrounded by Russian
troops, but managed to fight its way out and escape
after a week-long standoff.
Mr. Raduyev was badly wounded in a Russian attack a
few years ago. He lost one eye, and underwent plastic
surgery for what were described as serious facial
wounds. He has also been reported killed or wounded
several times in the past, most recently last month.
The rebel leader is a former Soviet army soldier and
Communist party member, who joined the Chechen rebel
movement in 1992 after the Soviet Union collapsed. He
is believed to have married the daughter of former
Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev, who was killed by
a Russian rocket attack in the last war.
Mr. Raduyev's stature as a field commander is said to
have diminished in recent years. He clashed openly
with the breakaway region's current leader, Aslan
Maskhadov, and many Chechens rejected his extremist
views. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/JO
13-Mar-2000 09:38 AM EDT (13-Mar-2000 1438 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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