KHANKALA. July 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Three rebels have surrendered in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, Colonel Ilya Shabalkin from the regional headquarters for the anti-guerilla operation in the North Caucasus told Interfax on Thursday.
One of them, Ruslan Matayev, admitted to being a member of Salman Raduyev's rebel group since December 1995. After his arrest, he did not take part in rebel sorties and was mainly involved in collecting information about the movement of federal troops.
Matayev was released under a written pledge not to leave the republic.
The other man, whose name has not been disclosed, said that he has fought alongside Shamil Basayev's rebels. Another four rebels have expressed readiness to surrender, and investigators are working with them, Shabalkin said.
He said that Shirvani Khubiyev turned himself in to police in the Gudermes district's Braguny village. He admitted to serving as a rebel liaison agent since 1998. His testimony is now being verified.
Shabalkin noted that more than 170 rebels have already surrendered in connection with the amnesty campaign in Chechnya. Of them, about 100 people have already been amnestied.