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GROZNY/TSENTOROI, June 17 (RIA Novosti) - Warlord Abdul Khalim Saidullayev killed in a special operation Saturday was planning large-scale terrorist acts in Chechnya, the prime minister of the North Caucasus republic said.
Ramzan Kadyrov said, "He arrived in Chechnya a week ago and was planning major operations with his accomplices in the town of Argun [central Chechnya]."
He said Saidullayev, who called himself the president of Ichkeria, the name militants use for Chechnya, was planning terrorist acts during the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, scheduled for mid-July.
Saidullayev was proclaimed successor of Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov who was killed by Russia's security forces in March 2005.
Kadyrov said one of the gunmen had informed law enforcement agencies about Saidullayev's whereabouts for 1,500 rubles (about $50) which he needed to buy drugs.
Kadyrov said a major anti-terrorist operation had been recently launched in Chechnya to detain and eliminate militants.
"We are determined to eliminate international terrorism in the North Caucasus," he said.
Kadyrov said he was convinced notorious warlords Shamil Basayev and Doku Umarov would be killed soon.
"Basayev claimed responsibility for the death of Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov [the prime minister's father] and we will make every effort to kill him," he said.
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov praised Chechnya's law enforcement agencies for the successful operation.
"This is a major success of the republic's law enforcement agencies. They have proved their ability to conduct difficult special operations and resolve problems of combating international terrorism," Alkhanov said.
He said Saidullayev could not affect the strengthening of peace and stability in Chechnya.
Chechnya's Interior Ministry said Saidullayev's body had already been identified.
The ministry also said three other militants who accompanied Saidullayev had escaped and the search for them was under way.
Russia's Federal Security Service said a policeman and an FSB officer had been killed in the special operation.
