Da The Moscow Times del 10/03/2005
Originale su http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/03/10/001.html

Rebels Promise to Carry On Fighting

di Anatoly Medetsky

Chechen rebels on Wednesday confirmed the death of leader Aslan Maskhadov and vowed to carry on their separatist fight.

Poland called Maskhadov's killing "a crime," and the European Union demanded an explanation about why Maskhadov had died -- pointed remarks that could stir Moscow's wrath. Moscow is sensitive to criticism over Chechnya, which it considers a domestic issue.

Federal Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev announced Tuesday that Maskhadov was killed during an FSB sweep in Tolstoy-Yurt, a village near Grozny.

Chechen and military officials also said Maskhadov was dead, and the rebel statement Wednesday was the first independent confirmation of the killing.

With Maskhadov's "violent death ... a new period has begun in the modern history of the Russian-Chechen military confrontation that not only allows for no negotiations, but also for no end to the war," said a statement posted on the rebel Kavkaz Center web site.

The statement said Maskhadov's death ended any chance of negotiations with Moscow because Maskhadov was the only man who believed that talks could bring peace.

The web site posted an order from the rebels' so-called defense committee, which Maskhadov had chaired, for separatists to go ahead and carry out previously planned "combat operations" this spring and summer.

Maskhadov's body was delivered to the Khankala military base near Grozny, and three of his close friends, including a nephew, identified it Wednesday based on a gold crown on one tooth and a scar on his lip, Deputy General Prosecutor Nikolai Shepel said.

Shepel said forensic experts would carry out a DNA analysis and report their results after two weeks.

He said the body is expected to be buried at an undisclosed location -- a decision that would be in line with a federal law on terrorism. Maskhadov was charged with terrorism last year for allegedly ordering the Beslan school attack and charged in 2000 with carrying out an armed revolt in Chechnya, Shepel said.

New details emerged about Maskhadov's death, though it remained unclear exactly when and how he died.

Major General Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the federal forces in Chechnya, said Maskhadov was hiding in an underground bunker in a house owned by a close ally, suspected terrorist Saiderbek Yusupov, who was detained in the FSB sweep. Kommersant said Yusupov is a distant relative of Maskhadov.

Three aides who were holed up with Maskhadov surrendered without resistance, Shabalkin said. They were identified as Vakhit Murdashev, Murdashev's nephew Viskhan Khadzhimuratov and Iles Iliskhanov. Murdashev had been a close Maskhadov ally for 10 years, a police source in Chechnya told Interfax.

Prosecutors planned to begin questioning the suspects Wednesday, Shabalkin said.

Aside from Maskhadov, four rebels were killed during the FSB sweep, Interfax said.

A search of the bunker turned up firearms, hand grenades, radios and a belt rigged with explosives, Shabalkin said. Commandos also found videotapes and two laptop computers containing Maskhadov's personal files.

Investigators were poring over the files Wednesday.

Alexander Torshin, head of a parliamentary commission investigating the Beslan attack, said the files might assist in the investigation by confirming Maskhadov's involvement or identifying other participants, Interfax reported.

Maskhadov, who had a $10 million bounty on his head, had denied responsibility for Beslan and a series of other terrorist attacks that killed more than 400 people in August and September. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has said he organized the attacks. A $10 million reward has also been offered for Basayev's capture.

Moscow-backed Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said Wednesday that Maskhadov's death would allow his 5,000-member security force to focus on their search for Basayev, Interfax reported.

Basayev said in a statement on Kavkaz Center that Abdul Khalim -- a Wahhabi from Saudi Arabia who chairs the rebels' Supreme Shariah Court -- should be the named the rebels' interim leader until the next "free elections." Basayev pledged allegiance to Khalim and said all Muslims in Chechnya and the rest of Russia should follow suit.

Senior pro-Moscow Chechen officials and politicians in Moscow said there was no reason left for anyone at home or abroad to call for peace negotiations.

"The people who insisted on negotiations with separatists and picked Maskhadov as a figure for negotiations have had the soil kicked out from under their feet," Chechen Security Council head Taus Dzhabrailov said.

"Now there's nobody to talk to and nothing to talk about," Federation Council Senator Yury Sharandin said. "This should be understood by the European Parliament."

The European Union, however, said it wanted an explanation about why Maskhadov had been killed, and the European Commission, which has often criticized Moscow's tactics in handling rebels, reiterated calls for a peaceful settlement in Chechnya, Interfax reported

"Political solutions must be found for the situation," EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, The Associated Press reported.

"It would be terrible if Maskhadov's death should lead to a worsening of the situation in the area," he said.

In the first harsh foreign reaction, Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld called Maskhadov's killing "a crime" and "a political mistake because ... Maskhadov was the only partner with whom an agreement could be sought," the AP reported.

The Council of Europe, the European human rights watchdog, expressed "regret that ... the Russian authorities have lost the opportunity to bring him to court."

The U.S. State Department declined to comment Tuesday, saying it was waiting for a definite confirmation that Maskhadov was dead.

Liberal politician Boris Nemtsov warned that Maskhadov's death would not change the situation in Chechnya. "Chechen separatists have many people like Maskhadov," he said, adding that the fighting could only be stopped through a political, not a military, settlement.

Kremlin-backed Chechen President Alu Alkhanov agreed. "Whether or not there is Maskhadov, the situation in Chechnya will not change," Alkhanov told Itar-Tass. "Maskhadov was just a symbol in the hands of the terrorist Basayev. He had no other significance."

Human rights activists, however, said there was little hope for peace without Maskhadov. "For me, the news of killing Maskhadov is not very good news," said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, chairwoman of Moscow Helsinki Group. "He was a person who it was possible to hold negotiations with."

Alexander Cherkasov, a prominent activist with the Memorial human rights group, agreed. "Maskhadov wasn't the leader of a terrorist group of Chechen separatists" but a relative moderate willing to seek peace, he said.

Izvestia speculated that the killing might signal a new Kremlin policy on Chechnya. Given that Kadyrov's security force has informants throughout the region, Maskhadov easily could have been tracked down earlier, the paper said.

"It can be assumed that this was not a chance success for the security services but the result of a decision taken at the highest level," Izvestia wrote. "If that is the case, it suggests a fundamental change in the Kremlin's policy on Chechnya.

"The ... argument that there was nothing to discuss with Maskhadov ... has been replaced with the unchallengeable argument that there really is no longer anybody to talk to," it said.

Sullo stesso argomento

Articoli in archivio

Ieri via alle elezioni per scegliere il parlamento: minacce per chi si astiene e intimidazioni dalla milizia filo-russa
Cecenia, il voto non porta la pace
La repubblica indipendentista alle urne in un clima di guerra
di Giampaolo Visetti su La Repubblica del 28/11/2005
 
Cos'� ArchivioStampa?
Una finestra sul mondo della cultura, della politica, dell'economia e della scienza. Ogni giorno, una selezione di articoli comparsi sulla stampa italiana e internazionale. [Leggi]
Rassegna personale
Attualmente non hai selezionato directory degli articoli da incrociare.
Sponsor
Contenuti
Notizie dal mondo
Notizie dal mondo
Community
• Forum
Elenco degli utenti

Sono nuovo... registratemi!
Ho dimenticato la password
• Sono già registrato:
User ID

Password
Network
Newsletter

iscriviti cancella
Suggerisci questo sito

Attenzione
I documenti raccolti in questo sito non rappresentano il parere degli autori che si sono limitatati a raccoglierli come strumento di studio e analisi.
Comune di Roma

Questo progetto imprenditoriale ha ottenuto il sostegno del Comune di Roma nell'ambito delle azioni di sviluppo e recupero delle periferie

by Mondo a Colori Media Network s.r.l. 2006-2024
Valid XHTML 1.0, CSS 2.0