RUMORS OF BASAYEV’S AND HATTAB’S FLEEING PROVE SOMEWHAT EXAGGERATED

According to the North Caucasus military headquarters, notorious rebel leaders Mr. Basayev and Mr. Hatttab are currently hiding in Chechnya. “They are mainly stationed in the south of the Vedeno and Nozhai-Yurt districts,” Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Valeri Baranov says. According to him, searches for those rebel leaders are continuing at present, Interfax reports. The lieutenant general is sure that Mr. Basayev and Mr. Hattab are now predominantly engaged in “recruiting foreign mercenaries.”