The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, says rebel leader Doku Umarov is already dead and the police are simply searching for his corpse.
"Umarov has been dead for a long time, we are simply searching for his body. He is no threat to the Chechen people. That's an official statement," Kadyrov is quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
Doku Umarov was the fifth president of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the first self-proclaimed Emir of the Caucasus Emirate. Umarov claimed responsibility for several attacks on Russian civilians, earning himself the media nickname of "Russia's Osama Bin Laden."
