Chechen Separatist Leader's Brother Surrenders

Doku Umarov (file photo) (TV screen shot)

August 18, 2006 -- Chechnya's pro-Moscow government says the younger brother of Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov has voluntarily surrendered.

Government spokesman Lyoma Gudayev said he turned himself in at the
residence of Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov in Gudermes today.

Doku Umarov took over the leadership of the separatist movement in June
after Russian forces killed Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev. Umarov's importance
to the separatist movement increased further in July after separatist
commander Shamil Basayev was killed.

Neither Russian nor Chechen officials have commented on whether the terms of Umarov's brother's surrender were related to an amnesty offered last month for separatist fighers who agree to disarm.

(RFE/RL's North Caucasus service, with agency reports)