MOSCOW, Nov 15: The most important Chechen guerrilla leader ever captured by Russian forces smiled at his accusers from the dock at the start of his trial on Thursday.

Salman Raduyev became one of Moscow’s most wanted fugitives after leading a bloody hostage-taking raid into the neighbouring Dagestan province in 1996 during the first of two wars in Chechnya. Russian troops caught him in Chechnya last year after launching the second war, which still continues.

Raduyev and three alleged accomplices were brought to court in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala in an armoured convoy and the street in front of the courthouse was shut by armed police.

Russian television pictures showed Raduyev smiling defiantly in a dark coat and mirrored sunglasses, inside a caged dock in the court room with the other three defendants.

Raduyev identified himself to the court, responding when asked to state his job: “Commander of the northeast sector of the armed forces of the Chechen Republic Ichkeriya,” using the pro-independence fighters’ name for the province.

The charges against Raduyev could carry the death penalty, which remains on the books in Russia, although there is a moratorium on carrying out executions.

He had regrown a trademark ginger beard that had been shaved when he was first captured, again covering a face that was rebuilt by surgeons abroad after injuries sustained in several assassination attempts.

One of the other defendants, Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev, was also a top rebel commander and held the post of security minister in a pro-independence government.

Russian officials have touted the trial as a blow against “terrorism”. Moscow maintains that there are strong links between Chechen rebels and Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the September 11 hijack attacks on US landmarks.

But by the time Raduyev was caught he was no longer a top figure in the Chechen pro-independence movement, and he played little or no role in the second war.—Reuters