Presidential Aide: Chechen Official Arrested in Denmark Linked to Hostage Taking in Moscow

'We had received information indicating that some kind of provocative action would be carried out in Chechnya in the run up to the 'gathering in Copenhagen,' announced Sergei Yastrzhembsky, a presidential aide and member of the hostage crisis team, yesterday at a press conference in Moscow. According to the NTV television company, he stated that 'we have extensive information suggesting that Akhmed Zakayev, who has been arrested in Denmark, was one of the criminals responsible for the seizure of hostages in Moscow.' Akhed Zakayev, a leading aide and minister of rebel Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov, was arrested on October 30 during the World Chechen Congress which was held in Copenhagen.