Belarus Extradites Suspected Chechen Guerrilla

From RFE/RL Newsline May 23 2005:

BELARUS EXTRADITES SUSPECTED CHECHEN HOSTAGE TAKER. Belarus extradited Nurmagomed Khatuyev, a suspected Chechen hostage taker, to Russia on 20 May, Belapan reported, quoting the Prosecutor-General's Office. Khatuyev is reportedly wanted by Russia in connection with the taking of hostages in Budennovsk in 1995 and in a Moscow theater in 2002. JM

Update: Itar-Tass has more:

Belarus extradites Chechen militant to Russia

23.05.2005

MOSCOW, May 23 (Itar-Tass) - Belarussian authorities have extradited to Russian law enforcers Nurmagomed Khatuyev, who took part in the assault by a band led by Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev of town of Budyonnovsk in southern Russia in June 1995.

The chief of the Southern regional branch of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Nikolai Khazikov, told Itar-Tass on Monday that Khatueyev, who hails from the Chechen village of Goity, had been formally charged with banditry and hostage taking.

He said Khatyuev was "another bandit who will stand trial for the participation in the attack of Budyonnovsk".

Twenty gunmen involved in the hostage-talking raid of a Budyonnovsk hospital had been earlier arrested and convicted, Khazikov said.

He said 30 other bandits who attacked Budyonnovsk with the Basayev-led band had been spotted and killed as they resisted arrest.

"They included such odious figures as Movsayev and field commanders known by their nicknames as Big Aslambek and Little Aslambek. None of the bandits who took part in the attack of the Stavropol territory's town will escape responsibility," Khazikov said.

Khatuyev was detained at the Belarussian capital's Minsk's airport where he arrived from Istanbul.

He showed to border guards a false passport, but his identity was established by a close look.

The Belarussian mass media said Russian security agencies also suspect Khatuyev of involvement in a hostage-taking raid of a Moscow theatre.

Basayev's band took 1,800 people hostage in Budyonnovsk in June 1995. The assaults left 126 local residents, including policemen, dead and 18 others died in hospital later.

In early 2005, Belarus extradited to Russia Valid Agayev and Kazbek Dukuzov, who are suspected of involvement in the murder of Paul Khlebnikov, an editor of the Russian version of the magazine Forbes.