MOSCOW. April 8 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov told journalists in Moscow on Friday that militant Shamil Basayev was preparing to assassinate him, but that this had been prevented.
"We have seized one of Basayev's closest associates who was allegedly preparing to assassinate me," Kadyrov said.
"They were preparing a man who was allegedly supposed to blow me up," Kadyrov said.
Kadyrov confirmed his intent to eliminate Basayev before May 9, the anniversary of the murder of first Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov.
"We have a single task - to eliminate Basayev before May 9. Not to imprison him, but to eliminate him, because he is not a man, but a beast, a murderer. There is one road for him - death," Kadyrov said.
"The real people, the large finances and the real bandits are behind Basayev," Kadyrov said.
In response to a question about whether the Chechen Interior Ministry is prepared to maintain safety in Chechnya on its own, Kadyrov said that "yes, we are 100% prepared. The Chechen police should establish order in the republic."
At the same time, he praised the work of the federal forces in Chechnya. "We would not have been able to do it without the federal forces," Kadyrov said.