18:04, 13 April 2004

Shamil Basayev sentences Ingush president to death

The Kavkaz Center agency has published a statement signed by Shamil Basayev concerning the assassination attempt on President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov. The editors say they received it via e-mail.

"On February 27, at a regular sitting of the drum-head court martial Riyadus Salihiin, Murat Zyazikov was sentenced to death for conniving at the genocide of the Chechens and Ingushetians," reads the statement. Murat Zyazikov has turned Ingushetia into a public thoroughfare, where killing squads, both from Chechnya and Osetia, commit extrajudicial executions, abduct people, and go unpunished. Over 100 Chechens and Ingushetians disappeared on the territory of Ingushetia for the last year, over 50 people were killed."

The letter signed by Basayev reads: "We warned Zyazikov many times, but he didn't listen to our warnings. He was lucky on April 6. We warn everybody not to come near to Zyazikov, to beware of his presence since we will use any chance to attack him, no matter who will be near."

Editors note: See also the article "Assassination attempt on Ingush president".

Source: Kavkaz Center Website