Chechnya - Aslan Maskhadov

Although not born in Zebir-Yurt, Maskhadov moved with his parents at the age of six to the Nadterechny district of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic. He is a graduate from the Tbilisi Higher Artillery College in 1972, and then the Kalinin Military Academy in Leningrad, where he graduated in 1981.

He was a platoon commander in the Far East and served in Hungary as a battery commander and then as a regiment commander. He was a colonel in a missile and artillery force during the attempt to capture the television tower in Vilnius in January 1991, which was part of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to put down independence in the Baltics.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Maskhadov served in the Chechen Armed Forces from 1992 to 1996. In December 1993, he was promoted to chief of staff and served as prime minister in the Chechen coalition government from October 1996 until January 1997.

He is primarily responsible for hammering out an agreement with the Russians at Nazran in June 1996 and in Novye Atagi from June 28 to July 4, 1996. On August 31, 1996, following talks with former Russian Security Council Secretary Aleksander Lebed, he signed the Khasavyurt agreements, buying time for Chechnya. He was unceremoniously replaced in the government during the fall of 1999 as Russian troops invaded what used to be his country. Maskhadov is married and has a daughter and a son.

Maskhadov became Chechnya's president as a result of the January 1997 elections. Maskhadov is a moderate and perhaps the man best suited to restore some semblance of order to Chechnya. Maskhadov was grudgingly endorsed by Moscow as the lesser of a dozen evils something that has caused the split between more militant groups led by Basayev. He is revered by Chechens as a fighter and the man who won the Chechen war, and equally as a diplomat who ended it. Maskhadov is a good military strategist with the personality of a piece of cardboard. DP spent a few hours doing the obligatory interview and didn't get too much that would be considered profound. He had been elected by a large majority of Chechen voters and controls acess into Chechnya but not the main fighting force. That is when you must talk to the man who calls the shots: Basayev.

The General Representative of the President of the Chechen Republic-Ichkeria First

The Coordinator

Zulay Khamidova

Tel: [90] (212) 257-68-15

Fax: [90] (212) 257-68-17

E-mail: dbolat@dominet.com.tr

Ambassador at Large of the Chechen Republic

Prince Charles Tchkotoua

Tel: [44] (171) 352-3597

Fax: [44](171) 352-8968

Caucasian-Chechen Information Committee

Ankara, Inkilap sok. No. 15/8

Tel./Fax: [90] (312) 431-5115

IHH (Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri)

Tel./Fax: [90] (212) 631-3368

http://www.ihhvakf.org