MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia offered a $10 million reward on Wednesday for information to help it hunt down Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov, whom it accuses of being behind last week's deadly school siege.

State television read an FSB security service statement saying it would pay up to 300 million roubles ($10.3 million) for information that led to "neutralising" the two rebels.

At least 335 people were killed -- half of them children -- in the siege at a school last week in southern Russia.

The Chechen pair already had bounties on them after Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of slain Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, offered in December to pay $5 million for Basayev and $50,000 for Maskhadov, saying Basayev posed a much graver threat.

The school siege followed a string of attacks blamed on Chechen rebels, including the downing of two passenger planes and a suicide bombing in central Moscow.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday evening it would step up its efforts to persuade Britain to extradite Maskhadov's spokesman Akhmed Zakayev, who was granted asylum last year.

Maskhadov aides have denied he had any role in the latest attacks. Basayev has made no comments about them.


www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6177053

Those guys better watch thier six...

Quoted: Those guys better watch thier six...

Does Russia HAVE $10 million?

- BG

Quoted: Quoted: Those guys better watch thier six... Does Russia HAVE $10 million? - BG

10 million rubles

Good, hunting season is open, do you think there'll be honour amongst thieves or will their own people them in?

/Phil

One wonders why this tactic hasn't been tried before.  As I understand it, the Chechen "economy" is based essentially upon kidnapping.  With the various Chechen clans in a sort of perpetual state of feuding against one another.  The only thing that has united them up to this point is their common hatred of the Russians.  Money, more than anything else, should be the most effective weapon to use against them.  Or maybe there IS such a thing as honor among thieves.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Those guys better watch thier six... Does Russia HAVE $10 million? - BG 10 million rubles

I think France gave them all thier old Francs after they sw to the EU