MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya's administration, said that he is holding negotiations with rebel leader Ruslan Gelayev on the possible surrender of his group.
"Negotiations are in progress with Gelayev. I am conducting them via my representatives," Kadyrov told a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
He specified that these "negotiations deal with the surrender of weapons."
Kadyrov noted that he has personally read separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov's decree on Gelayev's demotion. "He has demoted him and banned him from protecting the republic," he said.
"Why Gelayev? He is not involved in abductions and has no links to Yandarbiyev or Udugov," Kadyrov said.
Asked about the possible number of Gelayev's rebels, he noted that "today, there could be 30 of them, but tomorrow, this figure may increase to 3,000."
He said that possible violations of human rights and the withdrawal of troops from the republic may lead to an increase in the number of rebels.