Chechen rebels pick successor to slain leader

MOSCOW - Chechen rebels have chosen a successor to their slain leader Aslan Maskhadov, close allies of the killed moderate told AFP by telephone Thursday from Western Europe, confirming an earlier statement by a radical warlord in Chechnya.
The official leader of Chechnya's rebels will become Abdul-Khalim Saidullayev, a little-known personality whom Maskhadov chose as his successor two years ago, the slain leader's associates in Britain and France told AFP.

03/10/2005 10:59 GMT