Ex Vice-President of independent Chechnya Vakha Arsanov reportedly killedPRAGUE/MOSCOW - Vakha Arsanov, former Vice-President of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, was killed in Grozny last night, announced the Moscow-backed Chechen authorities today.
According to information that has yet to be verified by independent sources, Arsanov was killed along with three other guerrillas in the Ivanova settlement in northwestern Grozny. His documents bore the name of some other man, but locals easily recognized him, according to the official sources. Sources close to the Chechen resistance have not confirmed the reported death of Arsanov as yet.
It is not clear if Arsanov was staying in one of the settlement houses of his own free will because information emerged in mid January that he and his son were detained by Moscow-backed Chechen forces. However, Ramzan Kadyrov, their leader, denied it. Nevertheless, speculation abounded that Moscow wanted to use Arsanov, a former top separatist leader, to achieve its own political aims. The whereabouts of his son are still unknown.
Shortly before his death in early March, Chechen resistance leader and Ichkerian President Aslan Maskhadov stated that federal forces had arrested Arsanov and he was "being prepared to be an active participant at the Council of Europe’s Round Table meeting" on March 21 in Strasbourg.
After the outbreak of the first Russian-Chechen war (1994-96), Arsanov became one of the field commanders who led the fight against Russian aggression. And when the war ended, he became Aslan Maskhadov’s running mate in the presidential elections.
In the second war, which started in 1999, Arsanov reportedly did not take any part in the fighting. He opposed Maskhadov's policies. In 2001, Maskhadov removed him from office.
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