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Maskhadov's Son Vows to Continue Dad's Chechen Work
BAKU, Azerbaijan (Reuters) - The son of slain Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov promised Wednesday to carry on his father's fight for the region's independence from Russia.
"I will continue my father's work. I have been in touch with his associates who are living abroad," Anzor Maskhadov, 29, told Reuters at his home in the Azeri capital, Baku.
Maskhadov was killed by Russian forces Tuesday in a village north of the Chechen capital Grozny. Russian security officials suggested he was killed by a grenade thrown into a reinforced underground bunker where he was holed up.
Anzor branded his father's killing a "terrorist act" planned by federal authorities.
"They wanted to take Maskhadov alive. In order to avoid casualties, he let his bodyguards go and took them on single-handedly," he said. "He of course, like any self-respecting Chechen, had no intention of giving himself up."
A green, red and white Chechen flag hung on the wall behind Anzor as he spoke in his home in Azerbaijan's capital Baku where he, his sister Fatima and mother Kusama were holding a three-day memorial service.
Anzor brushed off suggestions that with Maskhadov gone, the Chechen separatist movement was as good as dead, instead he reinforced analysts' fears the violence could get worse.
He said the rebels would show the same resolve they had done after the killing of Chechnya's first rebel leader Dzhokhar Dudayev in 1996.
"When Dzhokhar Dudayev was killed, the Chechen people united, their hatred of the Russians and determination to fight only increased. I think the same thing will happen in this case. Our fight will continue."
Maskhadov's London-based envoy Akhmed Zakayev has said a new leader could be named within days. Feared warlord Shamil Basayev, responsible for some of the worst acts of violence in Russia, topped some analysts' lists of possible successors.
Basayev claimed responsibility for last year's Beslan school siege that killed at least 330 people. Russian authorities accused Maskhadov of masterminding the attack, but he repeatedly denied the charge.
After the recent killing of Chechen rebel leader , it was not clear who would take his place. His son Anzor Maskhadov, aged 29, has quickly emerged as the most likely candidate to carry on his father's work.

Speaking at his home in , Azerbaijan, Mr. Maskhadov told the Reuters news agency ''"I will continue my father's work. I have been in touch with his associates who are living abroad."'' He went on to describe the killing of his father as a ''"terrorist act"'' planned by the Russian authorities.

The Chechnya area of Russia has effectively been at war with Russia for much of the past decade: pro-independence guerrilla groups are faced by Russian regular army and special police forces. Numerous crimes against civilians and human rights infringement incidents reported in the area, involving both Russian army and rebel groups. 

Late President Maskhadov was considered a moderate pro-independence Chechen leader, in contrast with . He made numerous negotiations offers, all of them left unanswered by the . With Russian forces nominally controlling most of the Chechnya, his ability to control Chechen warlords was being questioned, though he reportedly managed to maintain lateral cease-fire in most parts of Chechnya shortly before his death. 

Maskhadov was the last publicly elected leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria. It's first elected president,  was killed in the sophisticated special forces operation of Russia's FSB in the 1990s.

Russian state run-media and MPs hailed the killing of Mr. Maskhadov — many believing his rebels were responsible for the  and the  in 2004.

Russian government took the hard-line position against Chechen rebels, denying any negotiations with the rebels after hostage takings and bomb explosions in Moscow (), downed airliners, hostage taking in  and other terrorist acts attributed to Chechen rebel groups. In many cases, Chechen groups claimed responsibility for these acts. Maskhadov denied any involvement in terrorist acts. According to Russian government's point of view, the war in Chechnya is merely a 'counter-terrorist operation' with an objective to 'restore the constitutional order'.