‘Top Arab militant killed in Chechnya’

In Russia, a spokesman for the state security service, Federal Security Service, declined to comment.

Pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov said there was a ‘‘real possibility’’ that Abu al-Waleed had been killed.

‘‘Those who offered armed resistance (in the past week) have been killed. In particular, more than 10 rebels have been killed in Vedensky region near village Tazen-Kale and Ersenoi. Among them were fighters who looked like Arab fighters. That is why it is impossible to rule out Abu al-Waleed was among them,’’ Kadyrov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.

On Sunday, Russian news agencies said troops had killed four Chechen rebels linked to guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev in a shoot-out with militants near the Chechen border.

Troops also killed a Wahhabi militant in the Chechen capital Grozny who Russian security services said could be linked to a suicide bomb attack on Ingush President Murat Zyazikov. —9Reuters)