"In the town of Shali... Umalt Boltiyev, born in 1983, who from 1997-2006 was an ally of terrorist Abu Havs, [killed December 26, 2006] was arrested," said the ministry spokesman, adding that the detainee was being questioned as part of the investigation.
Earlier, a ministry source said police had arrested a Jordanian national who was suspected of being a member of an armed group.
The spokesman said two other militants, one suspected of being affiliated with Chechen emissary Akhmed Zakayev, who is currently a fugitive in the U.K., as well as a commander of an estimated 100 gunmen, had turned themselves in to police Thursday.
He added that enforcement officers had discovered a large weapons cache suspected of belonging to the prominent rebel, Musa Mutiyev, killed in Grozny last Saturday. The cache contained Kalashnikov rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers, grenades, ammunition and explosives.
Chechnya was devastated by two military campaigns, in 1994-1996 and 1999-2001, after which Moscow significantly scaled down its military presence in the republic. But random fighting and terrorist attacks still occur in the area, despite a widely publicized amnesty campaign announced by Russian authorities.
