Magomedsalikh Gusaev was killed on 27 August by a magnetic bomb that two unidentified attackers placed on the roof of his car as he was traveling to work. The perpetrators escaped. Gusaev, who was 52, was injured in an assassination attempt two years earlier. Politicians in Makhachkala and Moscow lauded Gusaev\'s work during his 10-year stint as minister to maintain interethnic harmony in Daghestan and to crack down on Islamic fundamentalism. Federation Council member Ramazan Abdulatipov praised him as \"a man of courage and principle\" and \"a real statesman.\" Officials in Daghestan believe radical Islamists were responsible for the murder, as Gusaev was the author of a program of measures to eradicate wahhabism in the wake of the August 1999 Chechen incursion into Daghestan, according to \"Kommersant-Daily\" on 28 August. (RFE/RL)