"On Friday the Belarussian side extradited to Russia Nurmagomed Khatuyev who had been detained in Belarus and is suspected of being a member of Chechen bandit units and perpetrating terrorist acts in Budyonnovsk and the Dubrovka theater center in Moscow," a spokesman for the Belarussian Prosecutor General's Office said.
According to him, the operation was carried out in compliance with the Russian-Belarussian convention on legal assistance on civil, family and criminal cases.
Khatuyev was detained at Minsk-2 airport in February 2005 when he was crossing the Belarussian border. The Belarussian law enforcement bodies found out that Khatuyev was wanted by Russian special services and was suspected of involvement in terrorist acts in Budyonnovsk and Moscow.
Before the extradition Khatuyev was staying in a pre-trial detention center of the Belarussian state security committee.
According to Belarussian law enforcers, this is not the first extradition to Russia in 2005. At the beginning of the year the Belarussian side already extradited Russians suspected of killing American journalist Paul Khlebnikov.
In June 1995, militants led by Shamil Basayev attacked Budyonnovsk (150 km from the Chechen border). They seized a local hospital and took 1,000 people as hostages. Over 150 people, civilians and servicemen, were killed as a result.
In October 2002, militants led by Movsayev seized the theater center on Dubrovka street in Moscow and took over 700 people as hostages. Dozens of innocent people fell victims of this attack. All terrorists were eliminated.
