Russia Offers Chechens Amnesty

"A humanitarian gesture, the amnesty is principally aimed at creating further conditions for peaceful life in the Chechen republic," said a letter from Putin to Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov, according to a Kremlin statement.

The amnesty would pardon all Chechen fighters who hand in their weapons and stop their activity before August 1, but those allegedly accused of murder, kidnapping and other serious crimes as well as foreigners would not qualify.

Russian authorities say a number of foreigners, mainly Arabs, are fighting in the ranks of the Chechens who have been battling with Russian occupation troops since they re-entered the southern republic in October 1999.

The amnesty offer, which had been in preparation but was submitted hurriedly to parliament, follows two bombings in Chechnya that killed nearly 80 people in the space of three days.

Up to 48 people were killed and more than 70 injured Monday, May 12, when a booby-trapped truck blew up a government building in a village north of the capital Grozny.

At least 30 people were killed and 40 others injured when two women blew themselves up in the middle of an religious festival in Chechnya on Wednesday, May 14.

Chechnya had enjoyed de facto independence for three years after an earlier 1994-96 war that ended in Russian defeat.

Observers have said the continuing violence has punctured the myth presented by the authorities that life is returning to normal in Chechnya.

But Russian officials have insisted there would be no change in Moscow’s strategy, which rules out any peace talks with the Chechen fighters.

The head of the Duma’s committee for legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, told reporters that the lower house could vote on the amnesty on Wednesday, or at the latest by Friday next week.

"The time span between submission of the amnesty bill and its publication (when it enters into force) must be minimal. If not, some people could commit crimes during this time knowing there will be an amnesty," he said.

"The federal authorities must learn the lessons of the last amnesty in 1999" which was branded a failure after only 500 people signed up for it from December 1999 to May 2000, Krasheninnikov warned.

The public was not informed enough about the measure and many Chechens who did participate were mistreated, beaten and arrested, the lawmaker averred.

Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov would not be eligible for the amnesty because he was accused of organizing an armed rebellion, alleged Krasheninnikov.

Russian Federal Minister for Nationalities Vladimir Zorin told the Interfax news agency that up to 2,000 people might be eligible for the amnesty.

"It may range from several hundred to 2,000," he said.

Russia has 80,000 troops stationed in the small mountainous republic fighting some 2,000 Chechen independence fighters, according to the Russian authorities.

Hijab Stays

The Russian Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Muslim women can follow Muslim tradition and keep on their headdress on identification pictures.

The case started off when the Russian interior ministry refused to accept the identification pictures in which 10 women from the central Russian Republic of Tatarstan were wearing Hijab (scarves to cover their heads).

The women filed a complaint against the ministry asserting they had to follow the religious code laid down in the holy Quran of covering their bodies save face and hands when in public.

At the time the complaint was filed, Tatarstan maintained a local ruling from April 2002 that outlawed wearing Hijab on identification pictures — a ruling supported by Putin.

The case was dismissed in the Supreme Court on civil affairs in March, then taken to the court of appeals, which spoke out in favor of the women.

Of the 5,5 million inhabitants of Tatarstan, 51 percent are Muslim.