Russia says Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed today in a gun battle with federal forces in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt

Russia says Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed today in a gun battle with federal forces in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt. If confirmed, the action removes a man Moscow considered a terrorist but who was seen by mainstream Chechens as a moderate independence leader. The details of what Moscow is calling a "special operation" targeting Maskhadov remain unclear. RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Musa Khasanov filed this report from the Chechen capital Grozny: "Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov was found [during a security operation] in a bunker built under a private house. As a result of an exchange of fire, Maskhadov was killed and his body has been identified, according to [a Russian Interior Ministry spokesman]." Three of Maskhadov's associates also were reported detained. Aslan Doukaev is the head of RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service and a close observer of the Chechen conflict. He says the killing of Maskhadov, if confirmed, removes one of the few Chechen leaders with an air of legitimacy -- both within mainstream Chechen society and abroad. "Maskhadov was elected Chechnya's president in 1997 in internationally observed elections by a landslide vote. So he had an aura of legitimacy about him. He was considered to be a moderate among Chechen leaders and, in an interview with RFE/RL late last week, in what I suppose was his last interview with the media, he said he was against violence and for solving the differences with the Russian leadership through talks."