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Chechen rebel leader's death was an accident -
pro-Moscow official
Interfax
Groznyy, 8 March: The intention had been to capture Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed in Chechnya on Tuesday [8 March], but he died as a result of the careless handling of a weapon by a bodyguard next to him. This is what first deputy chairman of the Chechen government, Ramzan Kadyrov, told Interfax on Tuesday evening.
"Our task was to detain Maskhadov. No-one was going to destroy him physically," Kadyrov said.
He said that "Maskhadov died as a result of the careless handling of a weapon by a bodyguard who was next to him".
"We planned to take him alive and, after questioning, appoint him commander of a company or a platoon in the security service," Kadyrov said.
He said that the staff of the Chechen president's security service took part in the operation.