Former peacemaker Rizvan Lоrsanov was killed in Novye AtagiRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus – Prominent political and public figure of the Chechen Republic Rizvan Lоrsanov was killed close to his home in the northern part of the village of Novye Atagi south of Grozny. Lоrsanov’s car hit a radio-controlled mine.
Rizvan Lоrsanov was known in Chechnya mostly as the person who had organized talks between the representatives of the Russian army and Chechen armed forces. It was in Lоrsanov’s house that Alexander Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov met before signing the agreement on termination of military actions in the Dagestani town of Khasav-Yurt in 1996 which marked the end of the first Russian-Chechen war. After the war, in 1997, Lоrsanov was elected member of the parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He actively opposed various military-political units and groups shortly before the beginning of the second Chechen war.
In January 2000, Lоrsanov was arrested by Russian soldiers together with a few journalists who at that time resided in his house but was released after protests by several human rights organizations. Recently, Rizvan Lоrsanov supported Akhmad Kadyrov and tried to set up a dialogue between him and president Maskhadov’s circles. Besides, Lоrsanov was involved in humanitarian issues.
An independent investigation into Lоrsanov’s murder was opened. Lоrsanov’s relatives have also started looking for the perpetrators of the crime.
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