Chechen warlord reportedly claims deadly stadium blast

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2004

MOSCOW (AFP) — Chechnya's renegade rebel leader Shamil Basayev reportedly claimed responsibility for the May 9 blast in central Grozny that killed the republic's pro-Kremlin president Akhmad Kadyrov and at least six others.

The statement, posted Monday on the rebels' website kavkazcenter.com and claiming to speak for the hardline rebel commander, said his troops were responsible for the bomb that exploded underneath a VIP platform in a packed Grozny stadium during Victory Day celebrations.

"Our mujahedin ... have successfully carried out a special operation ... and have carried out the shariat sentence in relation to national traitors... Kadyrov and (state council chief Hussein) Issayev," said the message, which was peppered with religious references.

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