Chechen rebel president's relatives kidnapped

The hunt for one of Russia's two most wanted men - Chechen rebel president Aslan Maskhadov - has taken an extraordinary twist after eight of his close relatives were kidnapped in what was allegedly an unorthodox attempt to "convince" him to give himself up.

Russia's leading human rights group, Memorial, claims that the kidnappings, which took place in two raids in December, were perpetrated by forces loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Moscow-backed deputy prime minister.

Kadyrov says he knows nothing about the matter, however, and argues that the disappearances have not been officially reported. The "hostages" include two of Maskhadov's brothers, his sister, his nephew and a niece.

Along with Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, Maskhadov is the man Moscow most wants to see behind bars. It blames both men for the Beslan school massacre last September and has posted a US$10m reward for information leading to their "neutralisation." In reality the job of catching him falls to Kadyrov, son of Chechnya's previous Moscow-backed president who was murdered last year.

Kadyrov junior commands an unruly private army and boasted last September that he was on the verge of capturing Maskhadov, a feat that would delight Russian president Vladimir Putin and earn the young Chechen a place in history.

But Maskhadov, who has styled himself as the moderate face of Chechen separatism, has repeatedly avoided his pursuers apparently never sleeping in the same place more than once.

Although Kadyrov denies he is behind the kidnappings, such methods would not be novel. Other Chechen militants have been "persuaded" to give themselves up after their relatives were abducted and held hostage in appalling conditions.

Memorial said the hostages' relatives had obtained information suggesting they were being held in an illegal prison known as the "Chechen Abu Ghraib" in the village of Tsentoroi, Ramzan Kadyrov's power base.

"It's precisely there where there is an illegal prison in which the Kadyrovtsy (armed men loyal to Kadyrov) keep people they have kidnapped and illegally detained," the group said in a statement.

In the past Kadyrov, who has a love of boxing, has been accused of torturing his enemies in the shadowy prison, in particular by peeling strips of skin off their backs.

Yesterday Memorial published a detailed first-hand eye-witness account of each and every kidnapping, all of which took place on the nights of December 3 and 28.

The method never varied with armed men claiming to be acting on the orders of Kadyrov brutally snatching people from their homes at gunpoint and forcing them into a long convoy of vehicles.

It said the hostages included Buchu Abdulkadyrova, 68, Maskhadov's sister, his brothers Lecha, 69, and Lemu, 55, as well as Ikhvan Magomedov, his 35 year-old nephew and his 41 year-old niece Khadijat Satueva. A distant relative and two of Maskhadov's son-in-laws were also kidnapped.

A group of Chechen separatist politicians have written to the European Parliament requesting action and point to statements made by Russia's General Prosecutor, Vladimir Ustinov, last October that terrorists' relatives must also bear some responsibility for the atrocities perpetrated by their loved ones.

Chechnya was once known as the kidnap capital of the world and abductions there are still common. Memorial said that 386 people were kidnapped there last year. Of those, 24 were found dead and 175 are still missing. Eight people went missing in the first week of this month alone while 32 have been arrested.

- INDEPENDENT