Head of Maigov's election staff abducted, then freedRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus - Ibragim Umarkhadzhiyev, head of Salambek Maigov's election staff, who was kidnapped Wednesday in Grozny, has been freed, as told by Maigov's staff to Prague Watchdog's correspondent.
After two hours in captivity, Umarkhadziyev was released unconditionally. No details of the abduction were available other than the assailants were armed and belonged to one of the Chechen security forces, and he was not subjected to any brutality. It is also not known where he had been held captive.
Maigov, who is a candidate in the Russian parliamentary elections scheduled for December 7, considers the incident an attempt to exert pressure on him and his supporters.
Maigov said that he knows who organized the kidnapping, alleging it was a rival candidate. Although he knows him personally, he refused to disclose his name.
"This provocation is but one element of the general policy of some candidates who, because they lack the nation’s support, are now trying to create problems ... I don't want Chechnya, which needs peace and consensus, to become a land of lawlessness," said Maigov.
He stated he was not going to withdraw his candidacy as Chechnya's deputy to the Russian State Duma. According to his own words, he intends to fight till the end - and win the election. And neither he nor his supporters doubt his victory.
In February Aslan Maskhadov, President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, appointed Maigov his envoy to Russia. In August Maigov quit the post due to the Kremlin's unwillingness to hold genuine talks with the Chechen resistance movement as well as due to Maskhadov's criticism of his work. Then he announced he would become the Chechen Republic’s deputy to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. An action which Maskhadov severely criticized. (T/E) RELATED ARTICLES:
· Maskhadov appoints Salambek Maigov new envoy to Russia (PW, 13.2. 2003)
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