MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A close associate of Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov was killed overnight in the volatile Russian region during a gun battle with local policemen, Russian media reported on Friday. Rustam Basayev, one of Umarov's associates, was killed in the Leninsky region of Grozny, Russian news agencies quoted local interior ministry officials as saying. Two policemen were also killed in the gun fight. Basayev was stopped in Grozny and asked for his papers but he fled into a nearby house and a gun battle developed. Chechen rebel Website, www.kavkazcentre.com, also reported that Basayev had been killed. The Kremlin says the conflict in Chechnya is over and that pro-Russian forces are mopping up a couple of hundred of remaining rebels who are holed up in the mountains after two separatist wars with Russia. Russia killed separatist Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov in March 2005 and rebel warlord Shamil Basayev in July 2006. Pro-Russian Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has made a show of reconstructing the shattered republic but rebels, many of whom profess links with radical Islamists, say they still carry out regular attacks on Russian forces.
