CHECHNYA: DUDAEV WAS KILLED.

Chechen resistance leaders yesterday confirmed and provided some details of the death of President Djohar Dudaev April 22, following a nighttime rocket attack on him by a Russian helicopter while Dudaev was making a satellite phone call to a potential mediator in the conflict. Dudaev was buried at an undisclosed location, believed to be Salazhi village in southern Chechnya. According to prevalent opinion, the carefully planned and technically sophisticated attack pinpointed Dudaev by using the signal of his satellite telephone. Russian officials admitted on background, and the Duma’s Security Affairs Committee Viktor Ilyukhin (Communist) admitted openly, that Russian secret agencies had previously made repeated attempts to assassinate Dudaev. The action caps the recent assassination attempts on commander Salman Raduev — whose death has not been conclusively confirmed — and on Chief of Staff Aslan Maskhadov, who escaped unscathed from a bomb explosion which killed a dozen of his bodyguards. (Western, Russian agencies, April 24 & 25)

The New Leader.