Chechen Chief Vows to Find Kidnappers

Faced with international outrage that threatened to isolate the breakaway Russian territory, Chechnya’s president vowed to track down kidnappers who beheaded four foreigners. “We will take all necessary steps to solve this horrible crime,” President Aslan Maskhadov said. A Chechen official confirmed that the kidnappers beheaded their hostages because they feared capture and wanted to prevent their victims from serving as witnesses. One suspected kidnapper was arrested Sunday, and his detention triggered panic among the rest, Chechnya’s Prosecutor General Mansur Tagirov told Itar-Tass news agency. The kidnappers then killed the three Britons and a New Zealander.