Chechnya’s Fighting Not Terror: U.S. Ambassador

In an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper published on Sunday, February29 , Alexander Vershbow said Al-Qaeda network of Osama Bin Laden “hijacked” the Chechen cause to serve its own interests.

He said the U.S. position on the Chechen file remained unchanged over the past few years.

The U.S. position consists of certain elements, the most important of which is the assertion of the importance of recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and in the same time opposing any solution for the conflict that is based on use of force or terrorism, he added.

Denouncing the so-called involvement of Al-Qaeda in the conflict, Vershbow stated that the U.S. exchanged intelligence information with Russia to cut off finances and ammunitions to the small mountainous republic.

Vershbow noted that Arabs fighting alongside Chechen fighters were adding fuel to the flames.

Some of them played a pivotal role in the conflict after receiving quality trainings in Afghanistan and returned to Chechnya carrying “extremist” opinions, he added.

Vershbow said the dispute is moved by a “political, separatist” drive and has its historical roots, adding it could not be resolved by force or “terrorism” but by diplomacy.

Not Enough

Moscow’s diplomatic and political efforts to end the conflict were not enough, he said in a veiled reference to the Chechen presidential elections and the new Chechen constitution.

Analysts and rights watchdogs denounced the presidential elections in the troubled southern republic of Chechnya as “a farce”, saying the Kremlin had rigged the race for the sake of the pro-Russian administration of Ahmad Kadyrov.

Vershbow said Kadyrov has failed to win the confidence of the Chechen people, asserting that last year’s Chechen elections were a mess after barring other candidates from standing in.

However, the American diplomat said Washington does not call for a dialogue with what he called “terrorists” including Chechen fighter Aslan Maskhadov whom he claimed failed to distance himself from terrorists.

Maskhadov categorically denied in October 2003 any links between Chechen independence fighters and Al-Qaeda network, asserting Chechens are waging a legitimate war to liberate their land and boot out Russian troops.

He was elected to a five-year term in 1997 after the republic won de facto independence from Russia following a bloody1994 – 96war.

Rights Abuses

The American diplomat also condemned the human rights abuses committed by the Russian troops and Kadyrov against the Chechen people.

On the forthcoming Russian presidential elections, the American diplomat said the outcome is known in advance due to the lack of political plurality and denying candidates to make their voice heard in the media, particularly TV debates.

Putting it in a nutshell, he said the coming elections will be some sort of a public referendum for President Vladimir Putin but not elections.

A U.N. panel sharply criticized human rights violations in Russia in November2003 , highlighting the impunity of security forces in Chechnya and the government’s clampdown on Russian media.

Chechens and Ingush people marked on February 23 the60 th anniversary of mass deportations from their homeland by the Soviets during the era of Josef Stalin.

The deportations were a taboo subject until Stalin’s successor, Nikita Khrushchev, condemned them in1956 .

More recently in1999 , some80 , 000Russian troops poured into the Caucasus republic of Chechnya in what Moscow called a lightning-strike “anti-terror operation” but which has since degenerated into a grinding war with Chechen fighters.

The current conflict, the second war between Russia and Chechen fighters in a decade, has left5 , 000Russian soldiers dead –12 , 000according to rights groups — and killed thousands of civilians.

It has also driven tens of thousands of Chechens into exile within Russia and abroad.

Thousands of refugees from war-torn Chechnya live in battered tent camps in neighboring Ingushetia and refuse to return home because of continuing insecurity.

Yandarbiyev

Asked about the assassination of former Chechen president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev earlier in the month and whether the Russian intelligence was involved, Vershbow said investigations are still underway.

He described the relations between Qatar and Russia as being sensitive for the time being, urging both sides to solve the crisis calmly.

Vershbow, nevertheless, said Washington has frequently urged Doha to hand over Yandarbiyev to Moscow, but to no avail.

He claimed that in the war on “terror”, concrete steps should be taken and “terrorists” should be brought to justice.

The Chechen leader was assassinated on February 13 in the Qatari capital Doha by a bomb attack on his car after Friday prayers.

Yanderbiyev was living in Qatar for three years and Moscow repeatedly sought his extradition.

He was interim president after Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former Soviet air force general who launched the Chechen independence movement after the fall of the Soviet Union and who was assassinated by Russian forces in 1996 .

He then passed the torch to Maskhadov, who was democratically elected president in1997 .

2 Qataris Arrested In Moscow

Two Qataris have been arrested in Russia amid a spat over charges brought in Doha against two Russians charged with assassinating Yanderbiyev, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“The ministry confirms that it is in continual contact with the Russian foreign ministry demanding clarifications and an explanation … and the reasons why two Qatari citizens have been arrested,” a Qatari foreign ministry official said.

“The Russian foreign ministry has replied that it will furnish an official response on Monday,” the official added.

Qatari sources said the two men were officials with a judo team transiting through a Moscow airport en route to a tournament in Serbia when they were detained.

Qatari press accused Moscow of seeking to use the men “to barter” for two Russian security service agents.

Moscow demanded on Friday, February27 , that Qatar free the two agents after denying they were involved in the blast that killed the51 -year-old Chechen leader.