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| President Aslan Maskhadov |
| Aslan Maskhadov (pictured) was born in Kazakhstan in 1951. At the age of six, he moved with his parents to Zebir-Yurt, which he considers to be his native village, in the Nadterechny district of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic. He graduated from the Tbilisi Higher Artillery College in 1972, and then went on to the Kalinin Military Academy in Leningrad, where he completed his studies in 1981. His military career began as a platoon commander in the Far East. After graduating from the military academy he served in Hungary as a battery commander and, subsequently, as a regiment commander. In January 1991, as a colonel in one division's missile and artillery forces, he took part in the Soviet Army's attempt to capture the television tower in Vilnius, as part of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to halt the drive for independence in the Baltics. From 1992 to 1996, Maskhadov served in the Chechen Armed Forces. In December 1993 he was promoted to chief of staff. He served as prime minister in the Chechen coalition government from October 1996 until January 1997. Maskhadov also became one of the chief negotiators in talks with federal officials. He was actively involved in talks held in Grozny in the summer of 1995, signing an agreement on military issues for the Chechen side. He also took part in the negotiations with federal representatives in Nazran in June 1996 and in Novye Atagi from June 28 to July 4, 1996. On Aug. 31, 1996, following talks with former Russian Security Council Secretary Aleksander Lebed, he signed the Khasavyurt agreements, effectively ending the conflict with Russian troops. This was followed by an agreement on the principles governing relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic, signed by Maskhadov outside Moscow on Nov. 23, 1996, with Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin. Maskhadov is married and has a daughter and a son. |