Leader slain, Chechen rebels promise 'holy war' on Russia

MOSCOW -- A day after separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was slain by the military, rebels in Chechnya vowed yesterday to carry on an Islamic ''holy war" against Russian control of the republic.

But Russian officials predicted that the death of Maskhadov, a former president of Chechnya, would deal a sharp setback to rebels in the mainly Muslim republic who are seeking independence.

Aslambek Aslakhanov, an adviser to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, told a press conference that he believed the leading rebels ''will now enter a fray to take Maskhadov's place," but none would be able to match the former leader's ability to attract foreign political and financial support. ''The destruction of Maskhadov therefore will reduce the funding of gangs," he said.

Guerrilla spokesman Movladi Udugov, in a statement posted on a rebel website, said ''the occupation forces and the puppets are celebrating what they see as a victory," but he described that mood as ''temporary propagandist euphoria."

Maskhadov's death does give Putin a fresh argument to use in refusing to negotiate with the rebels, Udugov added, because, ''There is, indeed, no one to have talks with in Chechnya anymore." The result, he said, will be continued war.

''By killing Maskhadov, the Kremlin has killed the last illusion of those Chechens who, despite everything, still believed in so-called 'international law' and a civilized form of dealing with the current terrorist regime in Moscow," he said. ''We ask God to accept the holy war of the emir of the mujahideen, Aslan Maskhadov!"

Maskhadov, 53, was elected Chechnya's president in 1997, during a period of self-rule in the republic after independence fighters defeated Russian troops in a 1994-96 war. The Russian military returned in 1999, imposing a pro-Moscow government and largely driving the rebels underground.

Maskhadov was killed Tuesday during a special operation by the military in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, 12 miles north of Grozny, the Chechen capital. He died after at least one grenade was thrown into a bunker under a private home where he was hiding, authorities said.

They added that the homeowner and three other people, associates or bodyguards of the former president, were captured.

A pro-Moscow Chechen official asserted Tuesday that the military had intended to capture Maskhadov and that the former president had been killed by a bullet fired by one of his own bodyguards.

Ramzan Kadyrov, first deputy prime minister of the pro-Kremlin Chechen administration, declared that Maskhadov's death would free up forces to search for the separatists' most radical leader, Shamil Basayev.

Russia's most-wanted man, Basayev has claimed responsibility for the takeover of a school last year in the southern town of Beslan that left at least 326 hostages dead.