Ex-Russia politician Khasbulatov, key figure in 1993 crisis, dead at 80 -agencies

FILE PHOTO: Russian parliament chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov during the emergency session of parliament March 24

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Former Russian parliamentary Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov, a key figure in a 1993 power struggle that ended when tanks shelled the legislature, has died at the age of 80, Russian news agencies said on Tuesday.

Khasbulatov, an academic from the southern republic of Chechnya, was elected chairman of the parliament in October 1991 and kept the job after the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the year.