Judge May Succeed Slain Chechen Rebel Leader
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From Times Wire Reports
A radical Muslim judge emerged as the likely successor to Chechen rebel commander Aslan Maskhadov.
Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev was backed by supporters of Maskhadov, who was killed in a Russian raid Tuesday, and by Chechen guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev.
Some observers speculated that Sadulayev would be a figurehead while Basayev holds real power. Basayev, an adherent of fundamentalist Wahhabi Islam, has claimed responsibility for organizing last year’s seizure of a school in southern Russia in which more than 320 people died.
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