Russia urges Chechen rebels to lay down arms

MOSCOW, July 15 (Reuters) Russia's security chief today promised Chechen rebels a fair trial if they surrender within 15 days, as Russia seeks to further weaken rebel forces after the killing of a key warlord.

''We urge the members of illegal armed groups to ... acknowledge the truth,'' Nikolai Patrushev, head of Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

''We offer to start talks with the representatives of the legitimate authorities of the Chechen republic or the federal government by August 1,'' he said.

''We offer to stop their participation in the gangs. Lay down arms and join the people in return for guarantees of objective and unbiased consideration of all circumstances of your participation in illegal armed groups,'' he added.

Patrushev's statement follows the death on Monday of Shamil Basayev, a prominent rebel commander who was wanted by Russia on terrorism charges. He died when a truck packed with explosives blew up in a convoy of cars outside Chechnya.

Russia, which has fought two wars in Chechnya since 1994 to subdue the rebels, has more than once offered incentives to rebels to get them to change sides. Much of the pro-Russian security force in Chechnya now is packed with former rebels.

The Kremlin says it is fighting Islamic militants who seek to establish a religious state. Chechen rebels say they want to drive the Russian Empire from their land.

The FSB has said that Basayev, who had claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on civilians such as the bloody Beslan school siege in 2004, was killed in a deliberate security operation.

REUTERS SB SSC1314