MOSCOW. July 10 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has thanked the special services for killing Shamil Basayev, but he said he regretted not having been able to kill him himself.
"We are grateful to those who killed Basayev, but he was my personal enemy and I promised to kill him. I regret not having being able to do it myself," Kadyrov told the Vesti 24 program.
Another Chechen warlord, president of the so-called Republic of Ichkeria Doku Umarov, may be the next one on the line, Kadyrov said during the interview.
"Speaking in Gudermes two days ago, I officially announced that operations to kill Chechen field commanders will bring tangible results in the coming days. Basayev has been killed and I have no doubt that Umarov will face a similar fate," the Chechen premier said.
Local residents have been assisting us in the search and killing of terrorists, he said.
"People reject terrorism, they don't need any terrorists, they want to live in peace, which makes it easier for us to kill terrorists," Kadyrov said, adding that "relentless actions by law enforcement agencies have driven terrorists in a tight corner."