Editing Aslan Maskhadov (section)

===President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria===
[[File:Maskhadov Yeltsin.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Aslan Maskhadov and Boris Yeltsin shake hands after signing the [[Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty|Moscow peace treaty]].]]
On 17 October 1996, Maskhadov was appointed [[Prime Minister]] of [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|Ichkeria]], while he also remained chief of staff and [[defence minister]]. 

Running with [[Vakha Arsanov]], who became his [[vice president]], Mashkadov won a majority of 60% of the votes and was congratulated by the [[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Boris Yeltsin]], who pledged to work towards rebuilding relations with Chechnya. Maskhadov was inaugurated on 12 February 1997, and at the same time he assumed the office of prime minister and abolished the office of Defence Minister he had occupied since late 1996. Maskhadov remained commander-in-chief of the republican armed forces. On 12 May 1997, Maskhadov then attained the apex of his political career when he signed a [[Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty|peace treaty]] with Yeltsin at the [[Kremlin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/MHII-65G9TK?OpenDocument|title=Peace Treaty and Principles of Interrelation between Russian Federation and Chechen Republic of Ichkeria|date=12 May 1997|access-date=23 June 2016|archive-date=6 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906003115/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MHII-65G9TK?OpenDocument|url-status=live}}</ref>

By the end of 1996, when Maskhadov assumed his office, nearly half a million people (40% of Chechya prewar population) had been internally displaced and lived in refugee camps or overcrowded villages.<ref name="dissident">[[Alexander Goldfarb (author)|Alex Goldfarb]] and Marina Litvinenko. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416551654/ "Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB." Free Press, New York, 2007.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129143706/https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416551654/ |date=29 January 2017 }} {{ISBN|978-1-4165-5165-2}}.</ref> The economy was destroyed and the [[warlord]]s had no intention to disband their militias. Under such circumstances, Maskhadov's political fortunes began to wane. His political standing within Chechnya became increasingly insecure as he lost control to Basayev and other warlords. Even his Vice-President Arsanov became his political enemy. Just like in the years before the First Chechen War under Dudayev, the years of Chechen independence were notorious for [[organized crime]], including kidnapping, leading to several public executions of criminals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460251997?open&of=ENG-373 |title=Chechen Republic: Amnesty International condemns public execution-Amnesty International |access-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041121235259/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR460251997?open&of=ENG-373 |archive-date=21 November 2004 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/1997/sep/2089/ "Latvia Condemns Public Executions in Chechnya"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112075238/http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/news/press-releases/1997/sep/2089 |date=12 January 2015 }} (23 September 1997)</ref>

Maskhadov attempted with only limited success to curb the growth of [[Wahhabism]] and other [[Islamic fundamentalism|fundamentalist Muslim]] groups supported by Basayev, producing a split in the Chechen separatist movement between Islamic fundamentalism and secular Chechen nationalists. In February 1999, as a concession to radical Islamists, Maskhadov introduced [[Sharia|Islamic Sharia law]]. The Sharia courts that were established sentenced people to death, flogging, executing people for crimes such as adultery.<ref name="ware">{{cite book|title=Chechnya: From Past to Future|editor=Richard Sakwa|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2005|pages=79–115|chapter=Robert Bruce Ware: Mythology and Political Failure in Chechnya|isbn=978-1-84331-164-5}}</ref>

Maskhadov survived assassination attempts on his life three times, on 23 July 1998 and 21 March and 10 April in 1999, in which the attackers used [[anti-tank missile]]s and bombs. Russian secret services were officially blamed.<ref name="memo"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=21&issue_id=1353&article_id=13685 |title=Programs – The Jamestown Foundation |access-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214231526/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=21&issue_id=1353&article_id=13685 |archive-date=14 February 2008 }}</ref>