Chechen rebels vow to fight on
AFP, Moscow
Chechen rebels vowed Wednesday to pursue and expand their fight for independence from Russia, calling the killing of rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov a fleeting coup for the Kremlin that obliterated any hope of a negotiated end to the conflict. "The occupiers and puppets are celebrating what they regard as a victory," stated a commentary on an Internet website regularly used by the rebels. "Indeed they can claim a victory for temporary propagandistic euphoria." Speaking to AFP earlier, Akhmed Zakayev, a longtime ally and spokesman of Maskhadov, confirmed by telephone from Britain the leader had been killed by Russian troops. However he vowed that the fight would go on: "The resistance will continue, no doubt about it." The killing of Maskhadov, the 53-year-old separatist leader who was elected president of Chechnya in 1997 in elections acknowledged by Moscow and who was seen as a relative moderate among rebel leaders, means talks on ending the war are no longer possible, the Internet message stated.
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