Experts confirm identity of Chechen warlord Basayev's remains

ROSTOV-ON-DON/MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti) - Forensic experts in southern Russia have confirmed after a series of genetic tests that the remains of a militant killed by Russian security forces near Chechnya in July belong to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, the Prosecutor General's Office said Wednesday.

Basayev, who orchestrated Russia's worst terrorist attacks, including the 2004 Beslan school siege, was killed together with 12 other militants in a special operation in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia.

The 41-year-old warlord was killed in his car while accompanying a truck laden with a hundred kilograms of dynamite, presumably intended for a large-scale terrorist attack in Ingushetia. Fragments of his body were identified in a preliminary examination shortly after the killing, but genetic tests were then called for to confirm the results.

The country's most wanted man, Basayev was reported killed on many previous occasions, but had managed, until July this year, to elude Russian forces despite the Kremlin's offer of $10 million for information leading to his capture.