'Mastermind' of Beslan massacre in internet truce claim

SHAMIL BASAYEV, the Chechen warlord who claimed responsibility for the deadly school hostage-taking in southern Russia, released a video statement yesterday to dispel rumours about his death and pledge respect for a rebel truce.

The statement that appeared on a website linked to the rebels featured Mr Basayev clad in combat fatigues and ski cap, saying he was feeling strong.

He then stabbed a knife into his artificial leg twice saying: "My leg is also in good shape try to do it if you can." Mr Basayev lost his right leg below the knee when he stepped on a Russian mine in 2000.

Mr Basayev's statement, which the rebel website said had been recorded in Chechnya on Sunday, followed a stream of recent Russian media reports claiming Mr Basayev had been killed.

Speaking against a backdrop of black cloth with white letters in Arabic, Mr Basayev said he was respecting a ceasefire announced by former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov.

"We have obeyed Maskhadov and supported his peace initiative," Basayev said.

Mr Maskhadov, who was president of Chechnya during its de-facto independence in the late 1990s, said he hoped for an "adequate reaction" from the Russian authorities.

Chechnya's Interior Ministry said there have been no serious attacks, raids or terror attacks in Chechnya since the rebels declared the truce last week. But federal officials have dismissed the calls as a bluff or publicity stunt.

A spokesman for the Russian military in Chechnya said the truce declaration was a rebel attempt to win time during a difficult winter period and to garner support in the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected calls from abroad for peace talks, saying the rebels are international terrorists who must be eliminated.

Alu Alkhanov, Chechnya's Moscow-backed president called on Mr Maskhadov to surrender without any conditions.

Last week Channel 4 television in Britain screened an interview with Mr Basayev in which he warned he was planning more attacks like that on Beslan which killed 320 people, half of them children, last September.