The Chechen warlord, Shamil Basayev, has claimed responsiblity for last week's Moscow theatre siegeand said the separatist Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov was not involved in the operation.
In a statement issued on the rebel's Kavzak Centre website, Basayev asked "forgiveness from him (Maskhadov) and my fellow fighters for that fact that I hid the planning and carrying out ofthis operation from them."
The flamboyant Basayev rose to notoriety in 1991 after Moscowhad declared a state of emergency in Chechnya, when he hijacked apassenger plane at Mineralnoye Vody, in southern Russia, threateningto blow it up and later forcing it to land in Turkey.
He followed this up in 1995 by taking several hundred peoplehostage in a hospital at Budyennovsk, in southern Russia,negotiating with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin ontelevision via satellite telephone to obtain the safe return home ofhis commando.
By then he was already established as one of Chechnya's top warcommanders.
Born in January 1965 in Vedeno, a mountain-top town insoutheastern Chechnya, Basayev displayed few signs of militaryprowess early on. Little is known of his army record other than thathe served as a "fireman".
However he gained considerable combat experience in the yearsimmediately following Chechen president Dzhokar Dudayev's unilateralproclamation of independence in November 1991, appearing whereverconflict broke out in the Caucasus.
A daring operation that enabled Chechen forces to recaptureGrozny from Russian forces on August 6, 1996, paving the way for apeace deal later that month, sealed Basayev's reputation as aguerrilla leader of stature.
He dabbled briefly in politics, running for the Chechenpresidency in January 1997 before taking up arms again in 1999.
Frequently reported killed by the Russian military, he was lastshown alive and well in a broadcast carried by Russian television inJuly. AFP