Rizvan Chitigov was a prominent Chechen

Chechen people

Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...

 rebel field commander in Shalinsky District

Shalinsky District, Chechen Republic

Shalinsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. Its administrative center is the town of Shali...

 of the Chechen Republic (Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

) until his death in March 2005.

In the early 1990s, Chitigov lived the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Upon his return to Chechnya, he oversaw military intelligence

Military intelligence

Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....

 in the Chechen separatist government of Aslan Maskhadov

Aslan Maskhadov

Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...

. The Russian FSB suspected that Chitigov had been maintaining ties with foreign intelligence services and was himself a CIA

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 agent.

According to the Russian state agency RIA Novosti, Chitigov previously served in the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

and was "planning to use chemical and bacteriological weapons against federal forces".