GROZNY/TBILISI. Feb 18 (Interfax-AVN) - Ruslan Gelayev, a prominent Chechen guerilla leader, is in Georgia, a source in the Russian federal forces in Chechnya claims.
"Ruslan Gelayev is in Georgia, and he recently held a number of meetings with people representing Georgian security agencies," the source told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
"We have information that Gelayev recently traveled from Georgia to Turkey, several times," he said.
According to updated information, Gelayev did not cross into Russia with a rebel gang in autumn last year, the source went on. Earlier reports said that surviving members of the gang that was defeated near the village of Galashki, Russia's internal republic of Ingushetia, penetrated into Chechnya.
"Gelayev is not on Chechen territory," the source said.
Meanwhile, Georgian Intelligence Service Chairman Avtandil Ioseliani said: "Ruslan Gelayev, who was earlier hiding in the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia, has been in Chechnya for the past eight months."
"Russia is perfectly aware of this," Ioseliani told Interfax- Military News Agency on Tuesday.
He also refuted media reports that Gelayev's wife is living in the Omalo village in the Pankisi Gorge.
Gelayev "has no wife," the intelligence chief said.