Chechen rebels pledge to fight on after head killed

MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) Chechnya's rebels today pledged to press ahead with their fight for freedom from Russian rule despite the death in battle of their leader.

Statements on separatist Web sites confirmed that Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev -- also known as Saidulayev -- had been killed in the town of Argun, 30 km east of the regional capital Grozny.

Pro-Moscow forces said they were combing the town for accomplices of Sadulayev, who was the fourth resistance leader to be killed in 11 years of separatist warfare in the southern Russian region.

''The death of even the most worthy will not weaken our jihad (holy war). On the contrary, our martyrs encourage the fighters with their heroic example,'' said a statement on a rebel Web site.

''Today our enemies, not hiding their baseness, are celebrating. But it should be us, not them, who are celebrating, because our brother and leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev is in heaven, as is the will of Allah.'' Sadulayev, a cleric from Argun, was little known outside Chechnya but had reorganised the resistance since taking over a year ago and tried to increase its links with Islamist fighters elsewhere in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus.

Unceasing Russian pressure has fragmented the rebel movement, but rebel fighters stage daily attacks in Chechnya and neighbouring regions.

Sadulayev will be succeeded as head of the Chechen resistance by warlord Doku Umarov, who unlike Sadulayev has long been a hands-on guerrilla leader.

Along with Shamil Basayev, who organised the war's worst attacks on civilians such as the Beslan school siege in 2004, Umarov commands troops in the field. They are key targets for Russian security services.

Pro-Moscow police in Chechnya said they were hunting two of Sadulayev's guards, who had slipped away from an operation that had apparently been sparked by an informer.

Sadulayev took over from Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed a year ago. He in turn took over from Dzhokhar Dudayev -- killed in a bombing in 1996.

Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, who briefly led the resistance after Dudayev's death, was killed in a car bomb in Qatar in 2004. Two Russian agents were jailed in the Gulf state for the attack.

REUTERS KD KP1528