Chechens bypass Basayev for unidentified new leader
Chechen separatists quickly appointed a successor to the killed leader Aslan Maskhadov yesterday, withholding his name but making it clear that it was not Russia’s most wanted man, the mastermind of hostage taking, Shamil Basayev. Their spokesman, Akhmed Zakayev, said the name was being withheld for now, but the new leader was in his early 30s and part of a new generation of separatists. “He is young and energetic, a worthy guy with authority in the republic,” Mr Zakayev said. “It is not Basayev,” he added.Full Story