| The head of the bodyguard corps for the separatist leader of Chechnya has surrendered to Russian forces, the regional command center said Friday. Shaa Turlayev, chief of the bodyguards for Aslan Maskhadov, turned himself in to the Russians in the Nozhai-Yurt region, the center said. The region is one of the areas of Chechnya where rebels are believed to be concentrated. "Turlayev's health is unsatisfactory and this to some extent explains his leaving," the Interfax news agency quoted Col. Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the command center, as saying. The ITAR-Tass news agency said Turlayev was taken to a hospital for treatment of wounds suffered earlier and had one of his feet amputated. Shabalkin said that Turlayev could escape charges if he is found not to have been personally responsible for killings, terrorism or ransom kidnappings. |