Fugitive Chechen President Impeached

A political sensation from the Chechen parliament

The parliament of the Chechen republic has impeached Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov and dismissed him from the position. This was announced by a group of Chechen deputies on Friday in Interfax central office in Moscow.

"The decree of the Chechen parliament was passed on September 5^th, it was based on the Constitution of Chechnya," acting speaker of the parliament Isa Temirov said. The speaker added, before initiating the question about Aslan Maskhadov's impeachment, "parliamentarians talked to Chechen diasporas and the people of the republic's regions." "We came to conclusion that there was only solution to stabilize the situation in Chechnya – to dismiss Maskhadov from his position," Isa Temirov was quoted by Interfax as saying.

Sergey Yastrzhembsky, official presidential spokesman, said that the decision of the Chechen parliament to impeach Maskhadov was a political sensation, RIA Novosti reported. "In fact, this decision is the real political sensation," Yastrzhembsky told reporters. "First of all, it was a very courageous step to make for the people who made it, taking into consideration the consequences that may follow and the present uneasy situation in Chechnya. Second of all, it is obvious that the people, who made such a difficult decision, were Maskhadov's companions and associates for a long time. They were the center of the movement that was struggling for separatism to separate Chechnya from Russia. Because of the parliament's decision, Maskhadov stopped being the virtual president of Chechnya and became simply a field commander. The decision has turned over another page in the history of separatism," Sergey Yastrzhembsky said in a statement.

On the photo: Aslan Maskhadov