Black era ends with killing of Basayev - Chechen president

GROZNY, July 10 (RIA Novosti) - Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said Monday that the killing of Russia's terrorist No.1 Shamil Basayev had turned "one of the blackest pages in the history" of the North Caucasus republic.

Russia's security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, announced Monday that several militants and Basayev, who had claimed responsibility for the deaths of 331 people in the 2004 Beslan school massacre and other atrocities, had been killed in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia.

"Basayev's actions caused the complete devastation of [Chechnya's] economy, thousands of deaths, and dozens of terrorist acts both in Chechnya and throughout Russia," Alukhanov said.

He praised the security services for carrying out the successful operation.