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RMSMCBlog Media Coverage
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and
Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
Ralph Davis
RMSMCBlog
Written: 14 August 2012
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 2 ~
CONTENTS
1. Chechen Rebel Leader Vows To Defeat
Russia If Peace Talks Rejected
2. CHECHEN PRESIDENT ORDERS A
CEASEFIRE AS AN INVITATION TO
RUSSIA TO START PEACE TALKS
3. Web Site: Chechen Rebels Seek Cease-Fire
4. Chechen rebel leader orders ceasefire -
Web site
5. Chechen Separatist Leader Orders Basayev
To Suspend Military Operations
6. Chechen Separatist Leader Reported To
Order Ceasefire
7. Chechen Official Says Guerilla Armistice
Offer a 'Bluff'
8. Talks with Chechen rebels impossible after
Beslan, says Russian general
9. Maskhadov almost ideally outplayed
Moscow
10. Shamil Basayev Can Have a Rest in February 11. Chechen Separatist Leader Maskhadov
Orders Ceasefire
12. Chechen ceasefire call dismissed
13. Chechnya: Maskhadov Reportedly Orders
Cease-Fire
14. REGIONAL OPERATIONAL HQ REFUTES
CHECHEN SEPARATIST LEADERS'
STATEMENTS
15. Chechen Rebel Commander Order To Halt
Military Actions Until 22 Feb
16. Chechen separatist leader said ready for
talks with Russia
17. Umar Hanbiyev: «This is a demonstration of
good will»
18. The Application of the General
Representative of the President of the CRI
U. Hanbiev
19. Chechen Rebel Spokesman Expected
Negative Reaction to Cease-Fire
20. Leader's Envoy Says Talks With Moscow
Not Ruled Out
21. Russian Official Thinks Maskhadov Will
Surrender if Basayev Dead
22. Chechens interested in ending war - rebel
president's envoy
23. Extremist websites post mutually excluding
orders of Maskhadov
24. Russian Expert Says Websites Confirm
Serious Discord Among Chechen Rebels
25. Maskhadov announces a cease-fire as Basaev
threatens more Beslans
26. Chechen site rejects Russian claims about
"information war"
27. Chechen Ceasefire 'Respite' Before New
Wave of Terror
28. Chechens Seen Planning Terrorism Despite
Maskhadov Cease-Fire Order
29. US TV Companies Eager To Cooperate
With Chechen Rebel Agencies
30. Russian officer: no fighting since Chechen rebel cease-fire call publicized
31. Chechen rebel leader appoints negotiator
for peace talks with Moscow
32. Chechen rebel leader praises truce
33. Radio Commentary Criticizes Kremlin's
Refusal To Talk to Chechen Rebels
34. Ramzan Kadyrov invites Maskhadov to lay
down arms
35. Surrender is only solution for rebel leader
Maskhadov - Chechen deputy PM
36. Chechen President Says Rebel Leader
Maskhadov Has No Real Power
37. Chechnya: Cease-Fire Holding, But Little
Chance Of Negotiations Seen
38. BASAYEV KILLED, MASKHADOV
PEACEFUL - TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
39. Dagestani Mujahideen waiting for President
Maskhadov's order
40. Chechen Rebel Leader Calls On West To
Help End War
41. Chechen rebels in peace plea to Kremlin
42. Chechen President Suggests Subordinating Security Structures to Local Command
43. Chechen rebel leader calls for peace talks
44. Chechen President Calls on Maskhadov To
Acknowledge Guilt
45. Russian Politicians Against Talks With
Chechen Leader Maskhadov
46. State Duma Deputy Says Maskhadov
Depends on International Terrorism
47. Sides Differ on Sincerity of Chechen Rebel
Leader's Peace Offer
48. Russia Faces Chechen Cease-Fire Bid
49. Maskhadov Raises Stakes in Chechnya
50. Russian government paper dismisses
Chechen rebels' truce offer
51. Chechen rebel in call for peace talks as
ceasefire holds
52. Chechen rebels offer to hold talks with
Moscow
53. Chechen militants ignore Maskhadov order
54. Chechen separatist leader unable to control
rebels - Russian federal source
55. CHECHEN REBELS HAND THE ANTI-
WAR MOVEMENT AN OLIVE BRANCH
AS THE KREMLIN TIGHTENS THE
SCREWS
56. Dagestan poised to become major guerilla
battlefield this summer
57. Russian pundit says Chechen truce call
masks plans for further violence
58. The Application of the President of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria Aslan Mashadov
to the Management of Russia and the World
Community
59. Russian human rights activists urge Putin to
talk to Chechen "moderates"
60. CAN WE BELIEVE MASKHADOV'S
INITIATIVES?
61. Calm before the Chechen storm?
62. Activists want Chechen peace talks while
Putin wants "objectivity"
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 3 ~
63. IS IT TOO LATE FOR PEACE TALKS IN
CHECHNYA?
64. FUROR OVER CHECHEN PEACE
OVERTURES DESIGNED TO FIZZLE
65. Plan to oust Putin by February 2006 over
Chechnya, says Russian analyst
66. Aslan Maskhadov Not Believed
67. Basayev and Maskhadov Occupy Television
Screens
68. MASKHADOV’S CEASE-FIRE AND THE
SITUATION IN CHECHNYA
69. Moscow Continues To Reject Chechen
Rebels' Overture
70. Cease-Fire in Chechnya and Talks with
Maskhadov are Necessary
71. Maskhadov Unilateral Cease-Fire Order Said
Initiated From Abroad
72. The Lubyanka's voluntary helpers
73. Appeal for Peace in Chechnya
74. Application of Ahmed Zakaev
75. Chechen Rebel Envoy Denies Reports of Planned Attack
76. Russian Official Says Pointless To Hold Talks
With Chechen Leader Maskhadov
77. AUSHEV CALLS ON MOSCOW TO SIT
DOWN FOR TALKS
78. REBELS AND FEDS BATTLE OVER
CEASEFIRE
79. «There is no alternative to the Chechen
peace initiative»
80. About Reputation
81. Chechen Separatist Leader Outlines Peace
Terms in RFE/RL Interview
82. Aslan Maskhadov: 'The Chechen mojahedin
will fight to the end in this war'
83. Kavkaz-Center: Maskhadov orders the
resistance to suspend attacks
84. Maskhadov almost ideally outplayed
Moscow
85. Moscow denounces Maskhadov's ceasefire
order
86. Ruslan Aushev: «The War Is Leaving Us
Behind»
87. Former Groznyy Commandant Says
Guerrillas' Truce Hoax
88. Chechen Rebels Threaten To Resume
Actions as Ceasefire Ends
89. WHO ARE THE FIGHTERS FOR
INDEPENDENCE OF CHECHNYA
90. Chechen Cease-Fire Expires on Anniversary
91. Maskhadov in control in Chechnya, rebel
tells Russian radio
92. Russia: North Caucasus Republics Enter
Circle Of Violence
93. Truce as Encore
94. Russian Duma Deputy Says Maskhadov's
Statements Calculated for West
95. Ceasefire Order Could Be Extended
96. Umar Khanbiyev: 'The Chechen side is
always open for a dialogue with the Kremlin'
97. Do the Russians want war
98. Analysis: Is It Too Late For Peace Talks In
Chechnya?
Appendix A. Maskhadov's Kommersant
Interview, Feb 2005
1. Aslan Maskhadov: An Appeal to the Russian
President
2. MASKHADOV FOLLOWS UP CEASEFIRE
WITH AN INTERVIEW
3. Hot-Shot
4. Authorities issue warning to newspaper
over Chechnya interview
5. Kommersant will be presented with official
warning - media supervision service
6. Warning to Kommersant Over Maskhadov
Interview Deemed Counterproductive
7. Russian Media Behavior Viewed With New Twist
8. Paper Hopes 'Warning' Over Interview
With Terrorist Will Be Dropped
9. Russian media warned against reporting on
Chechen rebels
10. Russian Paper Cautioned for Publishing
Interview With Chechen Separatist
11. Paper To Be Warned Over Rebel Interview
12. Warning Letter
13. Chief Editor Rejects Charges Cited in
Warning Over 7 Feb Maskhadov Interview
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 4 ~
Chechen Rebel Leader Vows To Defeat
Russia If Peace Talks Rejected
(Internet) Kavkaz-Tsentr News Agency WWW-
Text in Russian 0607 GMT 27 Jan 05
[Excerpt] 27 January: For the second time in the
history of the Chechen state, the nationwide
direct elections to the highest governing bodies
were held on the territory of the sovereign
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria on 27 January
1997. As a result, the country's president and
parliament were elected. Representatives of
influential international organizations and
independent experts from 30 countries, including
those from Russia, monitored the preparations
and the election campaign in the republic. They
witnessed that the elections passed off peacefully,
fairly and democratically. They also noticed the
intense activity of voters.
[Passage omitted: background of the Russian-Chechen war]
The chairman of the State Defence Committee of
the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Army Gen
Aslan Maskhadov
The ongoing second Russian-Chechen war, which
will turn up six years soon, has exposed the real
fascist face of the Kremlin leadership of
"democratic" Russia led by the president and
KGB agent, [Vladimir] Putin. The latter has set
himself a savage task in the style of a notorious
executioner of mountain peoples, [19th century
general famous for subduing Chechnya] Gen
Yermolov, i.e. to finally solve "the Chechen issue"
through ...[ellipses as published] the genocide of
this ethnic group who are one of indigenous
inhabitants in the Caucasus.
But the new executioner of the Chechen people
and his bloody team must have known that the
ancient Chechen land faced not only "the tsar-
Yermolov option" of the Chechens' genocide in
19th century, but also the so-called "Soviet-Stalin
option" on 23 February 1944 when it was
decided on personal orders from the communist
tyrant leader to completely resettle all the
Chechens in Central Asia and Kazakhstan to die
of hunger and cold.
This time Putin and his colleagues from Lubyanka
in the person of [Federal Security Service
Director Nikolay] Patrushev, [Russian Security
Council secretary Igor] Ivanov, [Interior Minister
Rashid] Nurgaliyev and others will fail to repeat
dreadful experiments of bloodthirsty killers
Yermolov and Stalin since the Chechen Armed
Forces are combat-capable as never before.
Meanwhile, the senior military and political leadership of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is
ready for the peace talks with the Russian
leadership in order to avoid the future pointless
victims of extending bloody conflict called "the
Russian-Chechen war". If Russia denies a peaceful
solution to bilateral relations, the Chechen state
intends to end in victory this aggressive and
invasive war unleashed against the Chechen
people by the Kremlin.
CHECHEN PRESIDENT ORDERS A
CEASEFIRE AS AN INVITATION TO
RUSSIA TO START PEACE TALKS
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Official Statement
02/02/2005
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria is proud to announce that
President Aslan Maskhadov, in demonstration of
the good will of the Chechen side, has ordered to all Chechen Armed Forces to introduce a
ceasefire from the 1st February 2005. President
Maskhadov’s order prohibits all offensive military
operations for one month. The use of force is
permitted only in defense against imminent
military attacks from the Russian side.
The decision to introduce the ceasefire is
intended to demonstrate to the Russian side and
the international community the will of the
Chechen leadership to resolve the Russian-
Chechen conflict by peaceful means. President
Maskhadov’s order is an invitation to Russia to
open genuine peace talks. It is also an invitation
to the international community to help Russia
and Chechnya to come to the negotiating table.
Press Office
Web Site: Chechen Rebels Seek Cease-
Fire
Chechen Rebel-Linked Web Site Says Top
Insurgent Leaders Call for Unilateral
Cease-Fire
By JIM HEINTZ
The Associated Press
Feb. 2, 2005 - A Web site linked to Chechnya's
separatist rebels has reported that top leaders of
the insurgency have called for a unilateral cease-
fire to be observed in February.
The Kavkaz Tstentr site said Wednesday that
Aslan Maskhadov, who was president of
Chechnya in its period of de-facto independence
in the late 1990s, signed on order on Jan. 14 for
all offensive actions to be halted in February in
Chechnya and bordering areas "as a sign of a
display of good will." It cited an unnamed aide to
Shamil Basayev, another Chechen warlord, as the source.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 5 ~
The report also said that Basayev had issued an
order that all rebels under his command halt
offensive actions in Chechnya and all of Russia
until Feb. 22.
It was not immediately clear why the two rebel
leaders would issue similar-but-different
instructions, but Maskhadov is believed to
command a relatively small portion of Chechen
separatist fighters.
Basayev, who leads a group called the Riyadus
Salikhin Martyrs' Brigade, has claimed
responsibility for some of Russia's most shocking
terrorist acts, including last year's seizure of
more than 1,000 hostages at a school in the town
of Beslan, which ended with the deaths of more
than 330 people, and for well-coordinated
attacks on police facilities in June in the republic
of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya.
The Web site published what it said was a text of
his order, which included a ban on "all forms of
diversionary actions," but it was not clear if that
included terrorist-type attacks. There was no
way to immediately confirm the authenticity of
the statements.
Telephone calls to the North Caucasus Military
District, which oversees Russian forces' activities
in Chechnya, were not answered early Thursday.
Chechnya has been shattered by two separatist
conflicts over the past decade. The first 20-
month war ended in 1996 with the withdrawal of
Russian troops after rebels fought them to a
standstill. That was followed by a period of de-
facto independence, during which Maskhadov was
elected Chechen president, in which law an
order and economic conditions deteriorated
precipitously.
In 1999, after Chechnya-based rebels made an
incursion into neighboring Dagestan, Russian
forces returned to Chechnya, taking firm control
of the northern part of the republic.
The Kremlin has firmly rejected international
calls for Russia to negotiate with the Chechen
rebels.
Chechen rebel leader orders ceasefire -
Web site
By Tom Miles
MOSCOW, Feb 2, 2005 (Reuters) - Chechen
rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has ordered all
Chechen fighters to observe a ceasefire in their
separatist war against Russian troops in February,
a rebel Web site reported on Wednesday.
Site www.kavkazcenter.com published a
statement from Shamil Basayev, Russia's most
wanted man and the organiser of last year's
Beslan hostage-taking, which ordered all fighters
to refrain from any offensive operations until Feb.
22.
But Basayev was quoted by The Times
newspaper in London as saying he still
considered Russian citizens fair targets for future
fighting.
The newspaper also quoted him as saying in a
Channel 4 television interview to be broadcast
later on Thursday that there were plans for more
operations of the kind that killed more than 330
people at the hostage-taking at the school in
Belsan.
Basayev's statement on the Web site said
Maskhadov had ordered his followers not to carry out diversionary attacks in Chechnya or in
the rest of Russia, attacks on Russian bases,
Russian convoys or vehicles, or on "traitors or
unbelievers".
Kremlin officials were not immediately available
to comment on the report of the ceasefire.
The statement said fighters should "continue
mining approaches to their bases and to continue
operations to destroy people or machinery of
the enemy forces who are spying or attacking
mountainous forested areas".
The Web site said Maskhadov gave the order on
Jan. 14 as a gesture of goodwill but did not
elaborate. Several of his relatives have been
kidnapped in the last two months, but it was
unclear if their disappearances were linked to the
ceasefire.
NO REACTION
"We do not react to Kavkazcenter. This is not an
official organ," said a spokesman for Dmitry
Kozak, Russian President Vladimir Putin's
representative in the North Caucasus region.
Putin sent troops to Chechnya as prime minister
in a popular move which helped propel him to
the presidency in 2000.
Although the ceasefire was addressed to all units
of the "Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic
of Ichkeria", Maskhadov and Basayev are not
thought to control all militants in the region,
which includes restive provinces neighbouring
Chechnya.
"We are planning more Beslan-type operations in the future because we are forced to do so," The
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 6 ~
Times quoted Basayev as telling Channel 4.
Wearing a black T-shirt with "Anti-Terror"
written in white Cyrillic lettering, Basayev said
the Russian people were targets because of their
support for Putin.
"People who approve of Putin's policies, people
who pay their taxes for this war, people who
send their soldiers to this war, priests who
sprinkle holy water on them ... How can they be
innocent?"
The rebel leadership has fragmented many times
during a decade of war in Chechnya. Maskhadov
and Basayev have themselves clashed in the past,
including over the Beslan hostage crisis, for which
Maskhadov promised to put Basayev on trial.
Maskhadov has denied any link with the Beslan
attack in September, when more than 330 people died during an attempt to free hostages held at a
school by Chechen rebels. But Russia has put a
$10 million bounty on both him and Basayev and
say the two worked hand-in-glove to mastermind
the bloody operation.
Maskhadov was elected president of a de facto
independent Chechnya in 1997 and has, like
Basayev, been on the run since Russian forces
swept back into the region two years later.
Putin calls Maskhadov a terrorist, but the
Chechen leader is seen as a relative moderate
among separatists and many commentators see
him as Moscow's only possible negotiating
partner if it decided to return to negotiations.
(Additional reporting by Oliver Bullough)
Chechen Separatist Leader Orders
Basayev To Suspend Military Operations
(Internet) Kavkaz-Tsentr News Agency WWW-
Text in Russian 1745 GMT 02 Feb 05
[Text] 2 February: Kavkaz-Tsentr has learnt from
the assistant to Chechen [rebel] commander
Shamil Basayev that the president of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria and amir of the State
Defence Committee - Majlis-ul-Shura, Aslan
Maskhadov, has ordered that all units of the
Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria unilaterally suspend their offensive
operations on the entire territory of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and outside it in
February. The order was signed on 14 January
2005. The order says that the move is being
taken as a manifestation of goodwill.
Shamil Basayev's assistant also said that in order
to implement the order, Abdullah Shamil Abu-Idris [Shamil Basayev] ordered the units
subordinated to him to stop offensive operations
on the entire territory of the Chechen Republic
of Ichkeria and on the entire territory of Russia
until 22 February.
Kavkaz-Tsentr will publish more detailed
information about this in the coming hours.
Chechen Separatist Leader Reported To
Order Ceasefire
By Eric Helque
MOSCOW, Feb 3, 2005 (AFP) -- Chechen rebel
leader Aslan Maskhadov has ordered all rebel
fighters to observe a ceasefire in their fight
against Russian forces, on the breakaway
republic's territory as well as beyond its borders,
a separatist web site reported early Thursday.
The ceasefire is valid for the month of February
and was ordered as a sign of good will, the kavakazcenter.com web site said, quoting an aide
to radical Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev.
Basayev, Russia's most wanted man who last year
claimed responsibility for the deadly Beslan
school hostage taking, has said he will obey
Maskhadov and has ordered units under his
command to stop all offensive operations, the
web site reported.
"I order all Modzhahedins on the whole territory
of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (the
separatists' name for Chechnya) and Russia to
end all offensive military actions for the month of
February," Basayev wrote in a statement quoted
by kavkazcenter.com.
However, that order was only valid until
February 22, Basayev added.
While kavkazcenter.com reported Maskhadov's
order early Thursday, it said the separatist leader
had signed it on January 14.
Kavkaz center.com's report could not
immediately be confirmed and no comments
were immediately available.
The International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights last month sent an open letter to Russian
President Vladimir Putin condemning the
reported kidnapping of several of Maskhadov's
relatives.
At least eight members of Mashkadov's family
were abducted by security agents of Chechnya's
pro-Russian administration in a bid to make him
give up the armed separatist struggle against
Moscow, the rights group said.
The list of Maskhadov's abducted relatives
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 7 ~
included the Chechen leader's sister and two
brothers, a niece and nephew and his son-in-law
as well two other relatives, one of whom is
handicapped, the Helsinki Federation said.
Maskhadov, elected Chechen president in 1997,
originally with the Kremlin's blessing, has since
then had a 10 million dollar (7.7 million euro)
bounty placed on his head by the Russian
authorities, along with Basayev.
Russian troops poured into breakaway Chechnya
in October 1999, more than five years ago, in
what was presented as a "lightning anti-terrorist
operation." But a festering guerrilla conflict has
continued to claim daily lives.
The Russian offensive reignited a conflict that had
ravaged Chechnya from late 1994 to 1996.
The official Russian death toll for the second conflict was reported late last year at around
4,500 troops.
However, a committee of soldiers' mothers
estimates the true toll may be three times higher
because the Moscow figure does not include
people who died of their wounds in hospitals
outside Chechnya.
The rebel and civilian tolls remain unreported.
The war has spilled well beyond Chechnya's
borders, threatening to destabilize the whole
North Caucasus region.
It has also reached as far as Moscow, where
radical Chechen separatists have carried out a
string of deadly attacks, including suicide
bombings and a massive hostage taking in one of
the Russian capital's theaters.
Chechen Official Says Guerilla Armistice
Offer a 'Bluff'
MOSCOW. Feb 3, 2005 (Interfax-AVN) - The
Chechen leadership has rejected reports alleging
that guerilla leaders have issued an order to
suspend attacks in February.
"This is nothing but a bluff, a provocation and a
desire to remind everybody about themselves. It
is also a desire to claim the guerillas have a single
command center controlled by Maskhadov and
Basayev," Chechen State Council Chairman Taus
Dzhabrailov told Interfax from Grozny on
Thursday.
A number of media outlets reported on
Thursday, citing a Chechen separatist website,
that guerilla leaders had issued an order to suspending combat activities in February. They
said that Aslan Maskhadov had given an order to
suspend hostilities throughout February, while an
similar order by Shamil Basayev said fighting
should be suspended until February 22.
"Did they explain what these orders are related
to? The upcoming Defenders of the Fatherland
Day on February 23, or the tragic anniversary of
the deportation of the Chechen people? Or is it
related to the disappearance of Maskhadov's
relatives, and so he decided to send information
that he is a peacemaker and wants to suspend
armed actions?" Dzhabrailov said.
He suggested that Basayev is in fact not
controlled by Maskhadov.
"Basayev or other guerillas remember about
Maskhadov when they need to and they use him
for their own ends. Maskhadov has never had any
influence on Basayev. No orders or instructions by Maskhadov have had any weight or significance
for Basayev," he said.
Intelligence information indicates that the core of
the illegal armed groups settled in the Chechen
mountains are foreign mercenaries, Dzhabrailov
said. "There are from 300 to 400 of them, and all
these riff-raff come from Arab and some
European countries. The mercenaries are
financed through foreign sponsors," he said.
"Therefore, Maskhadov can issue an order only
to himself and Basayev to his retinue and
bodyguards - the small group he leads,"
Dzhabrailov said.
"Maskhadov and his retinue are the first to blame
for the crisis in which the Chechen republic has
found itself," he said.
Most Chechens reject the guerillas and hope the
republic and its economy stabilizes soon,
Dzhabrailov said.
Talks with Chechen rebels impossible after
Beslan, says Russian general
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
03, 2005
Text of report in English by Russian news agency
Interfax-AVN web site
Moscow, 3 February: Any truce negotiations with
Chechen warlords Shamil Basayev and Aslan
Maskhadov are impossible following the Beslan
tragedy, Col-Gen Vladimir Bulgakov, Russian
Ground Forces deputy commander-in-chief, told
Interfax-Military News Agency on Thursday [3
February].
"The so-called truce in Chechnya announced by
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 8 ~
Maskhadov and Basayev is nothing but a bluff and
another attempt to present themselves to the
international public as advocates of a peace
settlement in Chechnya," he said.
"I have just come back from Chechnya and I can
assure you that our motorcades [convoys] and
checkpoints daily come under fire and terrorist
acts go on. True, the militants are not as active as
before, but that is an achievement of our
troopers and Chechen policemen," he said.
Bulgakov thinks the truce statement may be
related to the abduction of Maskhadov family
members in December 2004.
"I do not rule out that this statement of the
separatists is directly linked to the abduction of
family members of Maskhadov. Anyway, it has
nothing to do with an intention to stop the
bloodshed," the general said. "We cannot believe Maskhadov and Basayev at all," he said.
Truce negotiations with Maskhadov and Basayev
are possible only if they unconditionally
terminate terrorist activities and surrender to
the police, he said.
[The Russian version of this item, which came at
0858 gmt, added: "I know from the first Chechen
war that Maskhadov is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
When he is pinned to the wall, he makes
protestations about his love of peace and his
readiness to talk, whilst at the same time trying
to use the breathing space for a regrouping of his
forces," the general stressed.]
Source: Interfax-AVN military news agency web
site, Moscow, in English 0934 gmt 3 Feb 05
Maskhadov almost ideally outplayed
Moscow
Chechen Times - 3.02.2005
President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Aslan Maskhadov ordered to unilaterally stop all
forms of military activity of an offensive
character. In accordance with the order, the
armed forces of the Chechen Resistance halt all
forms of military activity – both on the territory
of Chechnya and Russia. The corresponding
document was signed on January 14, 2005, but
has not been published until recently.
However, there are no grounds to doubts its
existence, since Umar Khanbiyev, General Envoy
to the President of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria to Foreign Countries, almost
immediately commented on it. He described this
step from the Chechen side a demonstration of
good will and an invitation to the Russian side to end the war at the table of political negotiations.
Besides, according to Khanbiyev, such order
unambiguously shows that the armed units of the
Resistance aren’t “fragmented groups”, but well-
guided armed formations, subordinated to the
commander-in-chief and controlled by him.
The unilateral truce is valid until February 22,
2005, and gives Russian military a serious matter
for reflection. February 23 – is another
anniversary of the Stalin deportation of
Chechens. As a rule, Russian military analysts
have always linked this date to a possible increase
in military activity of the Resistance, but their
“prognoses” have never come up to
expectations. Now everything says that the date
when the truce offered by the Chechen side ends
was chosen not accidentally and in fact “the
demonstration of good will” contains an
unambiguous hint to the Russian side.
Moscow’s reaction can easily be foreseen: it is
likely to ignore the offer, because it is ready
neither to discuss peace speaking the language of
“good will” nor the language of “latent threats.”
Most probably, the Kremlin will increase the
intensity of military actions and reppressions in
Chechnya – with a maniacal stubbornness it still
considers any idea of negotiations only “a trick of
rebel fighters searching a possible respite.”
Today Moscow is not interested in a possible
deterioration of the situation in Chechnya, and
first of all because of the scheduled PACE’s
“round table” on “the Chechen problem” which
is to help Moscow stop any mentioning of related
military activities, genocide and instability. The
same goal is pursued by “The agreement on
delimitation of powers” between Russia and
Chechnya, which in fact admits that “the
Chechen Republic is in the conditions of a special
economic, social and ecological plight.”
And in this respect we can say that Maskhadov
almost ideally outplayed Moscow, demonstrating
his aspirations for peace. “Almost” – is because
he has repeatedly said that in the Chechen
Resistance there are groups which he cannot
control, which act on their own, the methods of
which he does not like and are even forbidden
for the Ichkerian armed forces and prosecuted.
Clearly, this situation will enable Moscow to
press standard charges against Maskhadov saying
either he “personally gives orders to terrorists,”
or “has no influence on rebel fighters.” The first
is possible only if the Chechen side observes the
truce. The second – if military actions will
continue. Nonetheless, repeatedly voicing its
aspirations for a dialog, the Chechen side looks
much more convincing and Maskhadov’s latest order – is a bright evidence of that.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 9 ~
“President” Alkhanov has also commented on
this order, saying — as usual – he is not going
“to conduct talks with Maskhadov,” traditionally
“forgetting” that the Chechen Resistance has
never considered him or his predecessor as a
negotiating side.
Besides, it seems Alkhanov has certain doubts
about his own legitimacy. We see it from the
following statement: “We do not deny that
Maskhadov was publicly elected, but he was the
President of Ichkeria, while Kadyrov – was the
President of the Chechen Republic. Maskhadov
can call himself the president neither morally, nor
legally.” And only this phrase absolutely clearly
shows that in Chechnya Russia is struggling not
against “international terrorism” but the
Chechens’ legitimate aspirations for
Independence.
Shamil Basayev Can Have a Rest in
February
KOMMERSANT Daily, FEBRUARY 03, 2005
Chechen rebels’ web-site Kavkaz-Center
announced yesterday Aslan Maskhadov ordered
militants to temporarily cease operations, in a
move of good will.
Maskhadov’s order was announced around 10:00
p.m., Wednesday. The document, issued on
January 14, 2005, directs to unilaterally suspend
offensive military operations in Chechnya and
outside its borders for the whole February.
Though Kavkaz-Center couldn’t provide the
exact wording, as no document was actually
available, it posted similar ruling of another top-
ranked militant Shamil Basayev, which commands
ceasefire till February 22. Umar Khambiev,
general representative of Ichkeria, told
Kommersant that unilateral suspension of
military operations has been long discussed with
the European policy makers. By this action,
Chechnya manifests its hope for peaceful
settlement of the conflict.
Aslan Maskhadov made similar order in April of
2000. At that time, the militants refrained from
large-scale operations, though the acts of terror
continued. Then Maskhadov attributed such acts
to the gangs out of his control. Now the gangs
also appear to go on with military operations. At
least 6 offices were killed and 17 people
wounded in Chechnya over the last two days.
“Who will believe Basayev is subordinate to
Maskhadov?” Taus Jabrailov, chairman of the
State Council of Chechnya, told Kommersant.
“The sole aim of the order is to trigger interest
to his person,” said Jabrailov.
If the order expires on February 22, large-scale
acts of terror are expected from February 23,
said Ruslan Kasaev, senior official of Chechnya’s
Ministry of Internal Affairs. “But most likely,
Maskhadov and Basayev are only bluffing,” Kasaev
said.
Chechen Separatist Leader Maskhadov
Orders Ceasefire
MosNews
Created: 03.02.2005
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has
ordered all Chechen fighters to observe a
ceasefire in their separatist war against Russian
troops in February, a rebel Web site reports.
www.kavkazcenter.com published a statement
from Shamil Basayev, Russia’s most wanted man
and the organiser of last year’s Beslan hostage-
taking, which ordered all fighters to refrain from any offensive operations until Feb. 22.
But Basayev was quoted by The Times in London
as saying he still considered Russian citizens fair
targets for future fighting.
The newspaper also quoted him as saying in a
Channel 4 television interview to be broadcast
later in the UK on Thursday that there were
plans for more operations of the kind that killed
more than 330 people at the hostage-taking at
the school in Belsan.
Basayev’s statement on the Web site said
Maskhadov had ordered his followers not to
carry out diversionary attacks in Chechnya or in
the rest of Russia, attacks on Russian bases,
Russian convoys or vehicles, or on “traitors or
unbelievers”.
Kremlin officials were not immediately available
to comment on the report of the ceasefire.
The statement said fighters should “continue
mining approaches to their bases and to continue
operations to destroy people or machinery of
the enemy forces who are spying or attacking
mountainous forested areas”.
The Web site said Maskhadov gave the order on
Jan. 14 as a gesture of goodwill but did not
elaborate. Several of his relatives have been
kidnapped in the last two months, but it was
unclear if their disappearances were linked to the
ceasefire.
“We do not react to Kavkazcenter. This is not an
official organ,” said a spokesman for Dmitry
Kozak, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
representative in the North Caucasus region. Moscow has put millions of dollars on the heads
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 10 ~
of both Maskhadov and Basayev.
Although the ceasefire was addressed to all units
of the “Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic
of Ichkeria”, Maskhadov and Basayev are not
thought to control all militants in the region,
which includes restive provinces neighbouring
Chechnya.
“We are planning more Beslan-type operations in
the future because we are forced to do so,” The
Times quoted Basayev as telling Channel 4.
Wearing a black T-shirt with “Anti-Terror”
written in white Cyrillic lettering, Basayev said
the Russian people were targets because of their
support for Putin.
“People who approve of Putin’s policies, people
who pay their taxes for this war, people who
send their soldiers to this war, priests who sprinkle holy water on them ... How can they be
innocent?”
The rebel leadership has fragmented many times
during a decade of war in Chechnya. Maskhadov
and Basayev have themselves clashed in the past,
including over the Beslan hostage crisis, for which
Maskhadov promised to put Basayev on trial,
Reuters reports.
Maskhadov has denied any link with the Beslan
attack in September, when more than 330 people
died during an attempt to free hostages held at a
school by Chechen rebels. But Russia has put a
$10 million bounty on both him and Basayev and
say the two worked hand-in-glove to mastermind
the bloody operation.
Maskhadov was elected president of a de facto
independent Chechnya in 1997 and has, like
Basayev, been on the run since Russian forces
swept back into the region two years later.
Putin calls Maskhadov a terrorist, but the
Chechen leader is seen as a relative moderate
among separatists and many commentators see
him as Moscow’s only possible negotiating
partner if it decided to return to negotiations.
Chechen ceasefire call dismissed
By Oliver Bullough
Thu Feb 3, 2005
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Chechnya's Russian-
backed government has dismissed a rebel
ceasefire declaration, saying it was a publicity
stunt that could not be trusted.
But analysts said the offer from rebel leaders
Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev suggested they were responding to an increasingly strong
desire in faraway Moscow to end a war that has
started to infect much of the North Caucasus.
"The Chechen government is open to any
attempt to bring peace to our people," a
spokesman quoted pro-Moscow Chechen
President Alu Alkhanov as saying on Thursday.
"But as regards Maskhadov and Basayev, they
have never fulfilled the responsibilities they have
adopted. This is just another attempt to draw
attention to themselves."
Kremlin officials did not comment. Russian
President Vladimir Putin has consistently rejected
suggestions of holding peace talks with people he
calls terrorists.
But analysts said he might be more open to
peace overtures after fierce battles in three
regions outside Chechnya in the last month.
These have graphically shown how brittle Russian
control has become in the 10 years since the
start of a war that has killed 20,000 Russian
troops and tens of thousands of civilians.
"There are people around Putin who are
suggesting it is time to end the Chechen war,"
said Alexei Malashenko, a security analyst from
the Carnegie Centre.
"Maskhadov and Basayev could see this is a
favourable time for such an approach."
He also said he expected Chechen's pro-Moscow
officials to try to undermine any talks that
threatened their power.
PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE
Maskhadov, who led Chechnya during a three-
year truce period until 1999, has frequently
appealed for talks, but Moscow has insisted he
has little control over rebel forces.
The latest offer appeared more significant as it
also carried the name of Basayev, Russia's most-
wanted man.
Basayev ordered most of the bloodiest rebel
attacks, including the hostage-taking in Beslan in
which more than 330 civilians, half of them
children, died.
"This is a demonstration of good will and an
invitation to the Russian side to end this war at
the negotiating table," said a statement on
Maskhadov's Web site, www.chechenpress.info.
"By this step the president has shown the world that the Chechen Republic's armed forces are
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 11 ~
not dispersed groups, as Moscow wants to depict
us, but following the orders of a Supreme
Commander ... Only a strong force could take
such a step."
But Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian
forces in the North Caucasus, said he had
noticed no change in the level of rebel attacks
since the ceasefire was ordered.
"They are continuing their crimes every day, this
is just an attempt to fool people in the West," he
said.
Some analysts suggested Maskhadov's declaration
could be a response to the disappearance of eight
members of his close family, who rights groups
say have been kidnapped by pro-Moscow
Chechen groups to put pressure on him.
A separate statement from Basayev said the ceasefire would last until February 22, the eve of
the anniversary of the Soviet-era deportation of
the Chechen people to Central Asia in 1944,
traditionally a day of mourning and anger in
Chechnya.
Chechnya: Maskhadov Reportedly Orders
Cease-Fire
By Valentinas Mite
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has
allegedly ordered Chechen fighters to
temporarily halt all offensive operations in the
republic. A statement by Maskhadov published on
a Chechen website says the cease-fire, due to last
through 22 February, is a gesture of goodwill.
Chechnya's Russian-backed government has
dismissed the report, calling it a publicity stunt
that cannot be trusted.
Prague, 3 February 2005 (RFE/RL) -- A pro-
separatist website has posted a statement saying
Aslan Maskhadov signed the cease-fire order on
14 January.
The statement also cited the separatist leader as
calling on the Kremlin to open negotiations for a
peaceful settlement to the war in Chechnya.
The site -- kavkazcenter.com -- published the
statement on the night of 2 February. It is
accompanied by an order from warlord Shamil
Basayev for pro-Chechen fighters to "end all
offensive military actions" until 22 February.
Sahman Akbulatov represents Russia's Memorial
human rights center in Ingushetia, the
autonomous republic bordering Chechnya.
Akbulatov said he travels often to Chechnya and
that people there are desperate for the war to end and will welcome the cease-fire call.
"Everybody is tired of this war -- Maskhadov and
his people, and Chechens on the whole,"
Akbulatov said today. "Probably Russians don't
need this war either -- at least, the ordinary
people."
He said frustration with the nearly 6-year-old
war may be one reason behind Maskhadov's
alleged cease-fire. But he admits the recent
kidnapping of a number of the separatist leader's
family members might have something to do with
it, as well.
"I don't know. Maybe it is, in a way, related to
the abduction of Maskhadov's relatives,"
Akbulatov said. "In the beginning of December,
eight of Maskhadov's relatives were kidnapped,
and maybe it somehow influenced the cease-fire.
We don't know. We can only guess."
The Chechen prosecutor-general this week
announced that an investigation has been opened
into the abductions. Memorial has speculated a
Chechen police force led by Ramzan Kadyrov --
the son of the former pro-Moscow President
Akhmad Kadyrov, who was slain last May -- may
have been behind the kidnappings.
Russia's NTV television station on Monday (Jan
31) cited Chechen Prosecutor Vladimir
Kravchenko as saying members of the federal
forces are also responsible for 10 percent of all
abductions in Chechnya.
It is unclear what kind of impact the cease-fire
order will have, or whether the recent
kidnappings forced Maskhadov to make a
conciliatory gesture toward the Russians.
But Akbulatov said the cease-fire offer does n-o-t
reflect badly on Maskhadov, and that the
apparent collusion between the moderate
separatist and the far more radical Basayev may
show the Chechen resistance is more unified
than previously believed.
Basayev has claimed responsibility for many
terrorist attacks carried out in Russia in recent
years, including last September's Beslan hostage
siege, in which more than 320 people were killed
after rebels stormed a school and took children,
teachers and parents hostage.
Maskhadov condemned the Beslan siege and has
said Basayev should face trial for his role in the
hostage taking. But the kavkazcenter.com
website has published a series of recent
photographs showing the two men sitting
together and appearing to discuss military
strategy against federal troops.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 12 ~
The British daily "The Times" on 2 February
quoted Basaev as saying he still considers attacks
on Russian civilian targets, such as the Beslan
hostage crisis, as a justifiable response to Russia's
military actions in Chechnya, and that he plans to
stage further such attacks.
The Kremlin, which has firmly rejected calls to
open negotiations with Chechen rebels, has
dismissed the kavkazcenter.com statement,
saying it is not an "official" source of information.
A spokesman for Chechnya's Russian-backed
government today quoted President Alu Alkanov
as saying the statement is little more than a
publicity stunt.
Kirill Koktysh of the Moscow Institute of
International Relations said the Kremlin will
probably continue to be silent. Opening
negotiations would be seen as a sign of weakness on Russia's part and would contradict Russian
President Vladimir Putin's unyielding stance on
the breakaway republic.
"For the military component of the decision-
making system, this would be a loss of face -- it is
too late, so to speak, to turn back," Koktysh said.
"And Putin has too often said that Maskhadov
doesn't represent anyone. And, to be honest, for
the last two years, or even three, that has been
absolutely true. Maskhadov really only represents
himself and a small group of close supporters and
not Chechens as a whole."
Koktysh said there is no reason to expect Putin
will respond to the cease-fire. The deadlock in
Chechnya, he said, is likely to continue.
REGIONAL OPERATIONAL HQ
REFUTES CHECHEN SEPARATIST
LEADERS' STATEMENTS
GROZNY, February 3, 2005 (RIA Novosti) - The
Regional Operational HQ for the Anti-Terror
Operation in the North Caucasus have refuted
allegations by Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil
Basayev posted on the internet sites of Chechen
separatists.
"All references to the leaders of Chechen
terrorist groups are false, the statements were
written by Movladi Udugov, chief ideologist of
Chechen separatists and their accessories," the
HQ's message reads.
The Kavkaz-Center and Chechenpress internet
sites carried allegations earlier that Maskhadov
and Basayev had ordered cease-fire in Chechnya
and the rest of Russia's territory until February
22 as an act of good will.
Officials at the Regional Operational HQ are sure
that "such internet resources are used to wage
informational war against Russia".
"Any kind of information about Basayev and
Maskhadov is placed on these sites to popularize
them and induce other mass media to circulate
false ideas about extremist leaders' activity," the
HQ's statement points out.
In this connection the Regional Operational HQ
refuses to comment on materials periodically
placed on the separatists' sites.
In its statement the HQ refers to the law On
Combat against Terrorism and calls on mass
media "not to believe ideologists of international
terrorist organizations, who seek to spread the
propaganda of terrorism and extremism".
Chechen Rebel Commander Order To Halt Military Actions Until 22 Feb
(Internet) Kavkaz-Tsentr News Agency WWW-
Text in Russian 0300 GMT 03 Feb 05
[Excerpt] Chechen rebel commander Shamil
Basayev has ordered units under his command to
suspend military operations in Chechnya and
elsewhere in Russia until 22 February, the rebel
web site Kavkaz-Tsentr reported on 3 February.
The order came after a Kavkaz-Tsentr report on
2 February saying that Chechen rebel President
Aslan Maskhadov had signed an order on 14
January calling for the suspension of all military
operations in Chechnya and Russia in February.
Kavkaz-Tsentr said that it had not yet received a
copy of Maskhadov's order. The following is an
excerpt from a report by Kavkaz-Tsentr news
agency web site; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:
3 February: Kavkaz-Tsentr has learnt from the
assistant to Chechen [rebel] commander Shamil
Basayev that the president of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria and amir of the State
Defense Committee - Majlis-ul-Shura, Aslan
Maskhadov, has ordered all units of the armed
forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria [CRI]
to unilaterally suspend offensive operations
across the territory of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria and beyond in February. The order was
signed on 14 January 2005. The order says that
the move is being made as a gesture of good will.
Basayev's assistant reported that under orders
from President Maskhadov, amir of the Islamic
Brigade of Shakhids [martyrs] Riyad us-Saliheen
[Gardens of the Righteous], Abdallah Shamil Abu-
Idris [Shamil Basayev] has ordered units
subordinate to him to stop offensive operations
on the entire territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and on the entire territory of Russia
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 13 ~
until 22 February.
Kavkaz-Tsentr still does not have the text of the
order of the commander-in-chief of the armed
forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and
the president of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov.
But Kavkaz-Tsentr has managed to obtain the
text of Basayev's order to units under his
command both on the territory of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria and on the territory of
Russia. The text of the document follows:
Peace be upon Allah, the God of Worlds who
created us Muslims and did a great favor of jihad
on His straight way!
Peace and blessings to the Prophet Muhammad,
his family, followers and all those who follow the
straight path to the Day of Judgment!
And thereafter.
[Passage omitted: passages from the Koran and
hadith]
Order
Executing the order of the president of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Aslan Maskhadov,
on 14 January 2005 on the unilateral suspension
by the mojahedin, as a sign of good will, of all
types of offensive military operations in February,
I order all the units subordinate to me:
All the mojahedin on the territory of the CRI and
Rusnya [Russia] to suspend all types of offensive
military operations in February, including:
All types of sabotage acts on the territory of CRI
and Rusnya;
Attacks and firing on the sites of the deployment
of the Russian occupation troops and their
puppet structures;
Blowing up and attacking enemy convoys and
individual vehicles moving along main roads
between the sites of their deployment;
Blowing up and attacking infidels and munafiqs
[hypocrites] in their places of residence and
during their movement in villages and on main
roads;
Shooting at enemy aircraft outside mountains and
forests and while in the mountains - those flying
over main roads;
All mojahedin to continue mining entries to their own bases and to continue military operations to
destroy the personnel and equipment of the
enemy troops conducting reconnaissance or
other military operations in mountains and
forests.
The order is valid until 22 February 2005.
[Passage omitted: Koranic verses]
The amir of the Islamic brigade of martyrs Riyad
us-Saliheen [Gardens of the Righteous],
Abdallakh Shamil Abu-Idris.
Maskhadov's envoy plea
This is how the general representative of the CRI
president in foreign countries, Umar Khanbiyev,
has commented on the suspension of the military
operations by the Chechen armed forces.
"The Chechen side has temporarily and unilaterally stopped the war. The Chechen side
has long been discussing the idea of a unilateral
suspension of the offensive military operations.
The order by the CRI president, C-in-C of the
CRI armed forces and head of the CRI State
Defense Committee, Aslan Maskhadov, on 14
January 2005 on the unilateral suspension, as a
sign of good will, of all types of offensive military
operations is a sign of good will and an invitation
to Russia to end the war at the negotiating table.
"By taking this step, the CRI president announced
to the world that the CRI armed forces are not
uncoordinated groupings, as Moscow would like
to portray us, but are the CRI armed forces
subordinate to the commander-in-chief and
controlled by him.
"The Chechen side is capable of demonstrating
goodwill and therefore temporarily and
unilaterally suspends all active offensive military
operations. Undoubtedly, only a strong side is
capable of taking such a step.
"We hope for a similar measure on the part of
Russia and hope that Russia will show political
will to put an end to this protracted and bloody
war."
The operational information department of
Kavkaz-Tsentr
Chechen separatist leader said ready for
talks with Russia
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
03, 2005
Excerpt from report by Russian Ekho Moskvy
radio on 3 February
[Chechen separatist leader] Aslan Maskhadov's
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 14 ~
envoy in the Nordic countries, Usman Ferzauli,
has confirmed to our radio station that Chechen
separatist leaders have given an order to suspend
subversive and military operations in and outside
Chechnya as a whole.
[Usman Ferzauli] In fact, there was an order from
the commander-in-chief, following which [Shamil]
Basayev also ordered that subunits of his
battalion should suspend combat operations, as
he says, not only in Chechnya, but also in Russia.
The legitimate president of the Chechen republic
of Ichkeria is ready for negotiations with a side in
the military conflict, the Russian Federation. He
is more than confident that peaceful initiatives, if
they are started with the legitimate authorities of
the Chechen republic of Ichkeria, will have the
desired consequences for both sides, which are a
compromise, peace and so on.
[Presenter] At the same time Ferzauli has denied that the order for a cease-fire is somehow
related to the abduction of Aslan Maskhadov's
relatives in December. [Passage omitted]
Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian
1000 gmt 3 Feb 05
Umar Hanbiyev: «This is a demonstration
of good will»
Kavkaz Center
2005-02-03 17:14:48
General Envoy of the President of the ChRI to
Foreign Countries Umar Hanbiyev commented
the news about the stop of offensive military
operations by the Chechen Armed Forces as
follows:
"The Chechen side has halted the war unilaterally
for a period. The idea of a unilateral stop of
offensive military operations was discussed by
the Chechen side a long time ago. The order of
14 January by the President of the ChRI,
Supreme Commander-in-chief of the ChRI
Armed Forces, chairman of the ChRI State
Defense Committee A. Maskhadov about a stop
(of operations) by the Armed Forces of the
ChRI, is to show a manifestation of good will; the
unilateral order to halt all forms of military
activity of an offensive character is a
demonstration of good will and an invitation to
the Russian side to end the war at the table of
political negotiations.
By this step, the President of the ChRI declared
to the world that the Armed Forces of the ChRI
aren't fragmented groups, like they want to
describe us in Moscow, but the Armed Forces of
the ChRI, subordinated to the Commander-in-
chief and controlled by him.
The Chechen side is capable of a step of good
will and therefore it unilaterally halts active
offensive military operations for a period.
Without a doubt, only a strong side is capable of
such a step. We hope for the presence of
political will and for an adequate step by the
Russian side in order to put an end to this long
and bloody war."
****
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria is proud to announce that
President Aslan Maskhadov, in demonstration of
the good will of the Chechen side, has ordered
to all Chechen Armed Forces to introduce a
ceasefire from the 1st February 2005. President
Maskhadov’s order prohibits all offensive military
operations for one month. The use of force is
permitted only in defense against imminent
military attacks from the Russian side.
The decision to introduce the ceasefire is
intended to demonstrate to the Russian side and
the international community the will of the
Chechen leadership to resolve the Russian-
Chechen conflict by peaceful means. President
Maskhadov’s order is an invitation to Russia to
open genuine peace talks. It is also an invitation
to the international community to help Russia
and Chechnya to come to the negotiating table”.
The Application of the General
Representative of the President of the CRI
U. Hanbiev
The department of the governmental information
Chechenpress, 04.02.05
The Chechen party unilaterally has stopped the
war for a while. The idea about the unilateral
suspension of military operations has been
discussed by the Chechen party for a long time.
The order of the President of the CRI, the
Commander-in-chief of the Military Forces of the
CRI, the head of the State Defense Committee
A. Mashadov of January, 14, 2005 about stopping
unilaterally by the Armed forces of the CRI all
kinds of operations of military character, is a
demonstration of good will and the invitation to
the Russian party to finish the war at the table of
political negotiation.
The President of the CRI has declared to the
world with this step, that the Armed Forces of
the CRI are not isolated groupings, as they want
to present us in Moscow, but the Armed Forces
of the CRI under the Commander-in-chief and
controlled by him.
The Chechen party is capable of a step of good
will and consequently stops for a while active
offensive operations unilaterally. The strength, unconditionally, is capable of such step only.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 15 ~
We hope for presence of political will and for the
adequate step of the Russian party to put an end
to this long and bloody war.
Umar Hanbiev, the General Representative of
the President of the CRI in foreign countries
Chechen Rebel Spokesman Expected
Negative Reaction to Cease-Fire
Moscow Kommersant in Russian 04 Feb 05 p 3
[Report by Musa Muradov: "Aslan Maskhadov
Accused of Kindling Peace"]
[Text] Throughout yesterday representatives of
the federal and Chechen authorities rejected the
statements by the gunmen's leaders regarding the
unilateral suspension of combat operations
posted the previous day by the Kavkaz-Tsentr
website. And the Russian General Prosecutor's Office, as though responding to the "peace
initiatives" from Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil
Basayev, announced that they are facing new
charges -- organizing a series of terrorist acts,
including the one in Beslan. Ichkeria's
representatives assessed this reaction as
"reluctance to restore peace in Chechnya."
Let me remind you that on 2 February Kavkaz-
Tsentr, the Chechen separatists' website,
reported that Aslan Maskhadov has ordered the
gunmen to suspend combat operations until the
end of the month "as a sign of goodwill" (the
edict was signed 14 January). The site also posted
orders from Shamil Basayev to his subordinates
to halt all sabotage actions in Chechnya and
Russia. Admittedly, terrorist Basayev's order,
unlike Maskhadov's, operates only until 22
February.
As expected, the reaction of representatives of
the Russian and Chechen authorities was
extremely negative. "Maskhadov simply wants to
attract the attention of the world community to
himself, Basayev, and company," Chechen
Government Chairman Sergey Abramov told
Kommersant's correspondent yesterday.
According to the Chechen premier, the Ichkeria
leader's statement is no more than a political
trick designed for foreign politicians, who in
assessing events in Chechnya "are guided by the
concept of double standards." Chechen President
Alu Alkhanov believes that the so-called
president of Ichkeria is basically incapable of
ensuring that this order is obeyed. "Maskhadov
did not keep a single promise even when he was
leader of Ichkeria," Mr Alkhanov noted. In the
Chechen leader's opinion, the statement by the
gunmen's ringleaders is a reaction to the active
operations by the republic's security structures "to ensure public order and counter terrorism."
The Regional Operations Headquarters for
command and control of the counterterrorist
operation in the North Caucasus simply does not
believe that the statements published by Kavkaz-
Tsentr are genuine. "Law enforcement agencies
know that the information posted by the bandit
formations' ideologists on extremist websites has
nothing to do with statements allegedly made by
Maskhadov and Basayev," Regional Operations
Headquarters spokesman Ilya Shabalkin told
Kommersant yesterday. "All references to the
leaders of the bandit underground are fabricated,
and the texts of the statements themselves are
the product of the imagination of Movladi
Udugov and his accomplices."
Mr Shabalkin stressed that in the time the so-
called Maskhadov moratorium has been in force
(since 14 January) there have been around 10
terrorist acts in Chechnya, with 18 officers of law enforcement agencies and civilians killed and
wounded. The Russian General Prosecutor's
Office also responded to the "peace initiatives"
from Maskhadov and Basayev. Yesterday it
officially announced that they face further charges
in absentia of organizing a series of terrorist acts,
including the hostage-taking in Beslan and the
armed attack on Nazran and Groznyy last
summer.
"To be honest, we did not expect any other
reaction," Umar Khambiyev, general spokesman
for the president of Ichkeria, stated, reconfirming
to Kommersant yesterday that Aslan
Maskhadov's order is genuine. Asked what in that
case is the point of these initiatives, Mr
Khambiyev replied as follows: "Irrespective of the
Russian authorities' reaction, we will achieve our
aim -- showing the world community our
readiness for peaceful dialogue." The Ichkeria
president's spokesman stressed that the
announcement of the unilateral moratorium is
totally unconnected with the abduction of Aslan
Maskhadov's relatives in Chechnya: "Maskhadov
has already spoken out about this: He draws no
distinction between his own relatives and the
other residents of the republic who are subjected
to violence by the security agencies."
Also yesterday news agencies circulated reports
that Shamil Basayev may have been killed in
Chechnya. They cited sources in Abkhazia's
security structures who had received information
from Basayev's wife and son, who live in the
republic. Sokhumi's official authorities denied the
rumors concerning the death of the number one
terrorist. The Federal Security Service refused to
comment.
"If this had happened, we would not conceal it.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 16 ~
Somebody is simply indulging in wishful thinking,"
Mr Khambiyev said.
Leader's Envoy Says Talks With Moscow
Not Ruled Out
(Internet) Daymohk WWW-Text in Russian
1520 GMT 04 Feb 05
[Text] 4 February: The general representative of
the president of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria [CRI], Umar Khanbiyev, has given a brief
interview to Daymohk news agency.
[Daymohk correspondent] Hello, Umar! Our
agency is receiving letters from our readers who
ask questions concerning the latest order of the
CRI president [Aslan Maskhadov to suspend
hostilities till the end of February]. Among them,
our editorial office picked the three most
frequently asked questions. Could you answer
them briefly?
[Umar Khanbiyev] Hello! Yes, I will.
[Correspondent] Is the CRI president's order
linked to the capture of his relatives by Russian
occupiers and their accomplices?
[Khanbiyev] No, it is not. It has nothing to do
with that. Commenting on the capture of his
relatives, the president said that they were part
of the Chechen people, which has been
eliminated and kidnapped by Russian occupiers
for six years in a row.
[Correspondent] Is the Chechen side in secret
talks with Russia?
[Khanbiyev] It is possible that the Chechen side
has some contacts with the Kremlin and there is
hope for talks. But only the CRI president can
say at what level and with whom.
[Correspondent] Why is [Chechen commander]
Shamil Basayev speaking about suspending
combat operations till 22 February while Aslan
Maskhadov says in his order that the war should
be suspended until the end of February?
[Khanbiyev] I do not see any disagreement here.
On the contrary, progress in consolidating the
Chechen Resistance forces is obvious, especially
as Shamil Basayev's units are not officially part of
the CRI army.
[Correspondent] Thank you.
Russian Official Thinks Maskhadov Will
Surrender if Basayev Dead
MOSCOW. Feb 4, 2005 (Interfax-AVN) - Rumors about the death of separatist leader
Shamil Basayev are being circulated in Chechnya,
but this information will be confirmed only after
law enforcement agencies produce evidence
proving his death, the republic's State Council
Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov told Interfax by
phone on Friday.
"Rumors about Basayev's death are being spread
in Chechnya. But only law enforcement agencies
can confirm his death by showing this man's body
or some video tapes to the public," Dzhabrailov
said.
Basayev's death would deliver a blow to all
remaining guerrilla groups in Chechnya, he said.
"He is such a major figure that in the event of his
death, any vigorous terrorist activities on the
territory of the republic or outside it will be out
of the question. If Basayev's death is confirmed,
Aslan Maskhadov (a separatist leader - Interfax) will take rapid steps to search for various
opportunities to surrender to law enforcement
agencies," the official said.
"A report has received been recently that
Maskhadov is hiding in the republic of Chechnya.
Unfortunately, information about Maskhadov's
whereabouts arrives one or two days later.
Otherwise, he would have been detained long
ago," he said.
Dzhabrailov dismissed reports posted on a
Chechen separatist website that Maskhadov had
ordered his militants to halt all combat
operations in February. "This is nothing more
than an attempt to remind people about himself,"
he said.
"Information about Maskhadov's statement
ordering a halt to hostilities most likely has
indirect links to reports about the disappearance
of his relatives. None of Maskhadov's relatives,
except for his wife, have ever had any influence
on his decisions," he said.
Chechens interested in ending war - rebel
president's envoy
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
04, 2005
Text of report by The Caucasus Times web site
on 4 February
Prague, 3 February, Caucasus Times
correspondent Islam Tekushev: "All the forces of
the Chechen Resistance are interested in ending
the war," Akhmed Zakayev, representative of
[Chechen rebel president] Aslan Maskhadov, said
while commenting on the order of the Chechen
separatist leader, Aslan Maskhadov, to unilaterally suspend offensive operations on the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 17 ~
entire territory of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria and outside it in February.
"All the forces of the Chechen Resistance are
interested in ending the war. This has been
demonstrated by all the Resistance forces,
including their extremist wing - Basayev",
Akhmed Zakayev pointed out.
Akhmed Zakayev said that the order of the
president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
[CRI] has shown the whole world that the
Chechen Resistance forces are not
uncoordinated groups, as Russia is trying to
present them, but are subordinate to the
commander-in-chief of the CRI armed forces.
Akhmed Zakayev recalled once again that
political dialogue is the only way to end the war.
Commenting on the statement of the [Russian] Prosecutor's Office that new charges of
organizing a series of terrorist acts, including the
hostage-taking in Beslan, have been brought
against the leaders of the Chechen separatists,
Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev, Zakayev
said that Maskhadov had earlier stated that he
had nothing to do with the horrific tragedy in
Beslan.
"I state once again on behalf of Aslan Maskhadov
that neither Aslan Maskhadov, nor the forces
under his command have anything to do with the
terrorist act in Beslan. The tragedy that occurred
there and the following investigation are aimed at
discrediting Aslan Maskhadov."
Source: Caucasus Times, Prague, in Russian 4 Feb
05
Extremist websites post mutually
excluding orders of Maskhadov
GROZNY, February 4, 2005 (Itar-Tass) --
Internet websites of Chechen extremists,
Kavkaz-Center and Daymohk, have posted two
mutually excluding ordinances by Aslan
Maskhadov. “The confusion results from a major
reshuffle in the command of illegal armed units
and the mounting fight for power and funding,”
Russian law enforcement agencies think.
The Kavkaz Center notorious website controlled
by radical militants of Shamil Basayev and Movladi
Udugov announced on Thursday that Maskhadov
had ordered unilateral ceasefire inside and
outside Chechnya.
Grozny experts told Itar-Tass that the website
did not post an ordinance by the former leader
of Ichkeria but referred to a certain aide to Shamil Basayev, who had allegedly learned about
that ordinance. Kavkaz Center introduced the
ordinance as a goodwill gesture and an appeal for
ending the war at negotiations.
"Declaring on behalf of the president of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria unilateral truce till
the end of February 2005.” “Any truce is out of
the question after what has happened to the
fearless fighters for freedom Shamil Basayev and
Doku Umarov, and any reports of the kind are
organized and distributed by forces hostile to the
Chechen people,” the ordinance runs.
The day after Kavkaz Center claimed an attack of
hackers on Daymohk and alleged posting of a
fake ordinance on that website. However,
“Kavkaz Center did not post a genuine ordinance
by the former leader of Ichkeria,” experts said.
A representative of a Russian law enforcement
agency explains “the information confusion with either serious differences between Maskhadov
and Basayev or a radial reshuffle in the extremist
command and the escalating fight for power and
funding.”
“This is an indirect evidence that information
about deaths of Shamil Basayev and Doku
Umarov may have serious grounds,” the source
told Itar-Tass.
Russian Expert Says Websites Confirm
Serious Discord Among Chechen Rebels
Moscow ITAR-TASS in Russian 1434 GMT 04
Feb 05
[Text] Groznyy, 4 February: The websites of
Chechen extremists titled Kavkaz-Tsentr and
Daymohk have published two mutually exclusive
orders of [Chechen separatist leader Aslan]
Maskhadov. "Such confusion is due to radical
changes at the top level of the bandit
detachments and increasing struggle over power
and financial flows," people in the Russian law-
enforcement and security structures believe.
The odious site Kavkaz-Tsentr, which is
controlled by a radical part of the rebels led by
Shamil Basayev and Movladi Udugov, yesterday
announced an order by Maskhadov about a
unilateral cease-fire "on the territory of
Chechnya and outside it".
However, as experts in the Chechen capital
pointed out to ITAR-TASS, the website does not
actually publish the decree of the former leader
of Ichkeria [Chechnya] itself, and simply refers to
"one aide of Shamil Basayev who has become
aware of the decree". Kavkaz-Tsentr interprets
this information as "a sign of goodwill" and "a call
to end the war at the negotiating table".
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 18 ~
On 3 February the Daymohk website, which is
considered to be a pro-Maskhadov website,
publishes Decree Ch834 of February 2, 2005, by
the president of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria and amir of the State Defence
Committee, Aslan Maskhadov, which is signed by
Maskhadov. The decree is entitled "On measures
to stop the circulation of fake statements of
representatives of the leadership of the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria" and it orders "the continued
resistance and armed struggle against occupants".
The decree in particular speaks of reports in the
media "of certain countries about a fake decree
on behalf of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
president about him allegedly announcing a
unilateral cease-fire until the end of February
2005". "There can be no cease-fire following
what has happened to the brave freedom fighters
Shamil Basayev and Doku Umarov, and all
reports of the kind are initiated and circulated by forces hostile to the Chechen people," says
Maskhadov's decree.
One day later, Kavkaz-Tsentr spoke of an attack
by hackers against the Daymohk site and the
publication of a fake decree on it. But, as
independent experts in Groznyy stressed,
"Kavkaz-Tsentr never publishes a real decree by
the former leader of the Ichkeria regime".
"Such information confusion is evidence of either
serious disagreements between Maskhadov and
Basayev, or of radical changes in the leadership of
the extremists and increasing struggle over
power and financial flows," a representative of
the Russian power-wielding agencies said.
"All this is indirect evidence that there may be
some serious grounds to the information about
the killing of Shamil Basayev and Doku Umarov,"
the source told ITAR-TASS.
Maskhadov announces a cease-fire as Basaev
threatens more Beslans
Jamestown Foundation
Eurasia Daily Monitor
Friday, February 4, 2005 -- Volume 2, Issue 25
CHECHEN REBELS START A
TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE
On February 3, the Kavkazcenter website
reported that Chechen separatist leader Aslan
Maskhadov had ordered rebel fighters to lay
down their weapons for one month. It also
published a statement from warlord Shamil
Basaev ordering fighters to obey Maskhadov's
decree and halt all offensive military actions until
February 22. Later that day, however, Britain's
Channel 4 television aired an earlier-recorded interview with Basaev, in which he warned that
he and his forces "are planning Beslan-type
operations in the future."
Kavkazcenter quoted an aide to Basaev as saying
that Maskhadov had called the unilateral ceasefire
order, which he signed on January 14, an
"expression of goodwill." The website said it did
not have the text of Maskhadov's decree, but it
published the text of Basaev's order to rebel
units to obey Maskhadov's ceasefire. Along with
various Koranic citations, Basaev ordered all
"mujahideen" on Chechen and Russian territory
to halt all forms of military actions, including
"assaults on and shelling of posts of occupation
forces and their puppet structures," "blowing up
and attacking enemy columns" and vehicles, and
attacks on "kafirs and hypocrites" in population
centers or on roads. The order stated that rebel
fighter were permitted to mine approaches to
their bases and to attack enemy forces or
hardware involved in reconnaissance or military operations in the wooded mountainous areas of
Chechnya.
Kavkazcenter also quoted Umar Khanbiev, the
main overseas representative for the separatist
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI), as saying
that Maskhadov's January 14 ceasefire order was
"a demonstration of goodwill and an invitation to
the Russian side to end the war at the political
negotiating table." Khanbiev added: "With this
step, the ChRI president told the world that the
ChRI's armed forces are not uncoordinated
groups, as they want to portray us in Moscow,
but are subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief
and controlled by him . . . Only the strong side is
able to take such a step. We are hoping that the
Russian side will have the political will to take an
appropriate step, in order to put an end to this
long and bloody war" (Kavkazcenter.com,
February 3).
Akhmed Zakaev, Maskhadov's London-based
representative, also commented on the cease-fire
order. "All the forces of the Chechen resistance
are interested in an end to the war," he said.
"This has been demonstrated by all the resistance
forces, including its radical wing -- Basaev." Like
Khanbiev, Zakaev said Maskhadov's order
showed that the resistance forces are not
uncoordinated groups, but are subordinated to
Maskhadov. Zakaev also called for "dialogue" to
end the war (Kavkazcenter.com, February 3).
Not surprisingly, pro-Moscow Chechen and
Russian officials have dismissed Maskhadov's
initiative out of hand. Chechen President Alu
Alkhanov called it a "propaganda trick" (Itar-Tass,
February 3). Likewise, Chechen State Council
Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov said it was nothing
more than a bluff, a provocation, and a desire to attract attention. Dzhabrailov added that it was
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 19 ~
possible the rebels were trying to give the
impression that they have a unified command,
when, in his view, "Maskhadov can only give
orders to himself personally; Basaev -- to his
entourage, guards, and the small group he heads"
(Interfax, February 3). Dmitry Kozak, President
Putin's envoy to the Southern Federal District,
seemed to be following the same talking points,
calling Maskhadov's unilateral ceasefire order
"nothing other than an attempt by the separatists
to attract publicity." The separatists "have taken
these steps many times before," he said, adding:
"Aslan Maskhadov has never been really in
control of the situation, even when he was in
Grozny" (Itar-Tass, February 3).
Meanwhile, Britain's Channel 4 ran an interview
with Shamil Basaev on the evening of February 3.
According to the channel's website, four months
ago it sent Basaev a list of questions through an
intermediary in an unnamed European capital. Within the past week, three video CDs
containing Basaev's answers to the questions
were delivered to an unnamed Middle Eastern
city (chanel4.com).
In the interview, the Chechen rebel warlord
reiterated what he said in an e-mail interview
with Mark MacKinnon, Moscow bureau chief for
the Globe and Mail newspaper, last November --
that he was in a state of "shock" over the
outcome of the September 2004 Beslan school
massacre, but that the Russians were responsible
for the siege's bloody denouement. Basaev told
Channel 4 that he originally planned to seize one
or possibly two schools simultaneously in either
Moscow or St. Petersburg, but that limited funds
forced him to target North Ossetia, a "Russian
garrison in the North Caucasus" that contributed
to Chechnya's misery with the "silent consent of
[the North Ossetian] population." Basaev said his
aim had been to offer the Russian leadership no
chance of achieving a "bloodless resolution" to
the hostage-taking and thus force it to stop the
"genocide of the Chechen people," but that he
had been "cruelly mistaken" in thinking Moscow
would never be willing to preside over the death
of children.
Basaev said Maskhadov had accused him of going
too far with the Beslan raid, and that he had told
Maskhadov he was "ready to stand before a
sharia court and answer to it in all its severity if it
judges [that] I should be punished." Basaev added,
however, that such a trial is only possible after
the war ends. Basaev also said he is willing to call
a ceasefire and open negotiations with the
Russians, but only after the complete withdrawal
of Russian forces from Chechnya.
At the same time, Basaev declared: "We are planning Beslan-type operations in the future
because we are forced to do so. Today our
citizens are disappearing. Our girls disappear
without a trace. They can take anyone. In order
to stop this chaos we have to respond in the
same way. Cynical though it may seem, we are
planning these operations, and we will conduct
them, if only to show the world again and again
the true face of the Russian regime, the true face
of Putin with his Satanic horns, so that the world
sees his true face. In order to stop the genocide
we will stop at nothing." Justifying attacks on
civilians, Basaev argued that people who "who
approve of Putin's policies," who "pay their taxes
for this war," who "send their soldiers to this
war, priests who sprinkle holy water on them,"
cannot be seen as innocent.
Basaev ended the interview with comments
reminiscent of those made by some of the more
extreme Islamic fundamentalist preachers. "This
is a war between the descendants of monkeys, about whom your Darwin wrote, and the
descendants of Adam, glory be to Allah," he said.
"This is the war of the descendants of Adam and
Eve to put the animals in their place. I commit
this to the great God and those who have taken
the path to jihad, the direct path to God. Allah-
hu akbar."
Before the interview with Basaev was broadcast,
Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed outrage and
condemned Channel 4's decision, calling Basaev a
"notorious terrorist and murderer" and noting
that Russia's embassy in London had demanded
the British authorities not air it. The channel, for
its part, said it recognized that Basaev's views
"will be regarded worldwide as repugnant" but
"utterly rejected" any notion it was acting
irresponsibly. "It is simply not the case that the
running of such material can be equated with
condoning it," Channel 4 said in a statement.
"This has also been the case for many other
instances where the views of those who advocate
terrorism, including Osama bin Laden, have been
carried by broadcast media. The piece on
Channel 4 News tonight will make very clear
what kind of man is Shamil Basaev and will set in
very clear context his attempted rationale for the
killing of children" (Channel4.com, The Times
[UK], February 3).
--Charles Gurin
Chechen site rejects Russian claims about
"information war"
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
07, 2005
A Chechen rebel site has reacted sharply to a
statement by the Russian headquarters
controlling the counterterrorist operation in the North Caucasus which questions the authenticity
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 20 ~
of statements by Chechen rebel leaders calling
for an end to the war. It says there is no question
of a Chechen "information war" and Russia in
truth has no intention of ending the conflict. The
following is the text of the report entitled "The
ROH rejects the authenticity of statements by
Maskhadov and Basayev", carried by the
Kavkazskiy Vestnik web site on 4 February;
subheading has been given as published:
The regional operational headquarters for the
conduct of the counterterrorist operation in the
North Caucasus [ROHCOP] refutes the
authenticity of statements by [rebel-backed
Chechen President] Aslan Maskhadov and [rebel
commander] Shamil Basayev published on
Chechen separatist web sites. This is stated in a
report from the headquarters which reached the
RIA news agency. "The law-enforcement bodies
know for certain that the information distributed
by ideologists of illegal armed formations on extremist sites has nothing to do with the
statements allegedly made by Maskhadov and
Basayev. All the illusions to the leaders of the
bandit underground are imaginary and the texts
of the statements the product of the fantasies of
[Chechen separatist spokesman] Movladi Udugov
and his accomplices," the document says.
Earlier on the Kavkaz-Tsentr and Chechenpress
sites, reports appeared about alleged instructions
having been given by Maskhadov and Basayev
about the ending of combat operations in
Chechnya and other Russian territory before 22
February "as a sign of good will". The ROH is
certain that "the activity of these Internet
sources pursues but one objective - to wage an
information war against Russia". "Any information
about Maskhadov and Basayev carried on these
sites has been invented merely to give them
publicity and to provoke other media into
circulating false impressions about the activities
of extremist leaders," the HQ's statement points
out.
In this connection the ROH refuses to comment
on reports which from time to time are
published on separatist sites. The statement
contains a reminder to representatives of the
media about the demands of the Law of the
Russian Federation "On the fight against
terrorism" and its appeal "not to be led by the
ideologists of international terrorist organizations
who are trying by deceit to provoke the
distribution of information which serves the
propaganda of terrorism and extremism".
Groznyy, 3 February 2005 - RIA Novosti.
Commentary
Let us ask ourselves why [spokesman of the counterterrorist operation in the North
Caucasus Maj-Gen Ilya] Shabalkin and his ROH
reacted in this way to CRI President Maskhadov's
decree on the unilateral cessation of combat
operations by detachments of the Chechen
Resistance, which was distributed by Chechen
web sites. There is a simple explanation for this
oversensitive reaction - the Russian military and
political leadership does not want to stop the
war and begin talks with the opposing side. This
shows up the false nature of the Kremlin's
measures, such as a "round table meeting" and
the recent "treaty on the delimitation of powers
between Moscow and Groznyy". That was the
first blunder. The second blunder is this: if
Shabalkin relates Maskhadov's decree on the
ending of combat operations to elements of the
information war, then what should one
understand by elements of the information war?
Clearly, only he - Shabalkin, a Russian
information general - knows about this. Quite
clearly, RIA is in a hurry to publish everything that is circulated by Shabalkin's spin-doctors,
without bothering to think about what it
contains. That's when you get clangers, or should
one say cock-ups from ROHCOP.
Source: Kavkazskiy Vestnik web site, in Russian 4
Feb 05
Chechen Ceasefire 'Respite' Before New
Wave of Terror
Moscow Moskovskiy Komsomolets in Russian 04
Feb 05 p 4
[Report by Oleg Fochkin under "Terrorism"
rubric: "Maskhadov Wants Peace. Or Is Basayev
Preparing for a New War?" -- taken from HTML
version of source provided by ISP]
[Text] A Chechen separatist website has posted
statements by Maskhadov and Basayev in which
they declare "a unilateral cessation" of offensive
combat actions on the territory of Chechnya and
beyond. Maskhadov has announced a moratorium
for the whole of February, whereas Basayev's
extends only through 22 February (23 February
1944 was the date when Chechen deportations
began, and it is regarded as the day of ethnic
genocide).
Basayev is ordering his comrades in arms to
cease all sabotage, attacks, and firing on Russian
troops, any blowing up of or attacks on convoys
and solitary vehicles of the "federals," and also
any shooting at "enemy aircraft" outside the
mountain-forest zone. The corresponding order
was signed 14 January 2005. But the ceasefire is,
for some reason, not in evidence. In these
opening days of February our soldiers have been
dying just as they have on other days.
The website also carries a commentary by "the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 21 ~
general representative of the Republic of Ichkeria
in foreign countries," Umar Khanbiyev, who
refers to the suspension of combat actions as "a
demonstration of goodwill and an invitation to
the Russian side to end the war around the
political negotiating table."
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov has already
made his statement in response to Maskhadov's
order: "Maskhadov has never honored the
commitments he has made, even during his
period as President of Ichkeria. If Maskhadov and
Basayev are prepared to end the terror
campaign, they should not set conditions, but
must contact the law enforcement agencies and
surrender to the authorities."
Dmitriy Kozak, presidential plenipotentiary for
the Southern Federal District, was no less
adamant: "The Russian authorities do not react
to messages posted on the extremists' website. This is because that facility is not an official
information medium."
That is, Russia's official representatives have in
fact said "No" to Maskhadov. Alkhanov claims
that Maskhadov's statements are directly linked
to the intensification of the Chechen law
enforcement agencies' counterterrorism
activities. This year alone the gunmen have
suffered significant losses, including within their
leading echelon (for example, the command of
the Yarmuk jamaat [community] in Nalchik has
been crushed). The federals' mobile detachments
are catching up with gunmen wherever they are
able. This is even more like revenge for the
deaths of comrades from the Alfa and Vympel
[special units] in Beslan and Makhachkala. And
the separatists understand perfectly well that
personal blood-revenge is far more terrible than
an order issued from HQ.
There are also other explanations for that most
unexpected statement from Maskhadov and
Basayev. First, reports have recently been
appearing of the severe wounding of both
Basayev and Doku Umarov -- the third man in
the gunmen's hierarchy. And they need to show
that they are still a united force, capable not
simply of resistance, but of presenting a united
front. Second, the separatists' relationship with
the Arabs has become strained. Most of all with
Abu-Hafs, who distributes financial aid from
abroad. He is in no hurry to share it with the
Chechens, and that arouses their open
indignation. According to intelligence
information, there have recently even been open
armed skirmishes between Arabs and Chechens.
Third, it should not be forgotten that it is still not
known what has happened to Maskhadov's
abducted relatives. It is not impossible that the "truce" is most directly connected with these
abductions.
And, finally, this is not the first announcement of
a truce from the gunmen. We may say, from the
experience of past years, that this "petition"
means only one thing: That the gunmen are
preparing new acts of bloody terrorism, and they
simply need a respite in order to prepare
everything meticulously and weaken the siloviki's
vigilance.
Chechens Seen Planning Terrorism
Despite Maskhadov Cease-Fire Order
Moscow Nezavisimaya Gazeta in Russian 04 Feb
05 p 4
[Report by Andrey Riskin: "Maskhadov 'Declares'
Peace. Not for Long. Chechen Gunmen's Leaders
Are Planning New Large-Scale Terrorist Acts"]
[Text] Ichkeria President Aslan Maskhadov has issued orders to suspend combat operations "on
the republic's territory and beyond its borders
for the month of February." One of the
separatists' websites reports that this has been
done "as a sign of goodwill." And Shamil Basayev
is reportedly prepared to obey this order, but
only until 22 February. In response, his statement
emphasizes, the separatists hope for "the
existence of political will and appropriate action
by the Russian side to end this long and bloody
war."
All the indications are that the Chechen
leadership does not believe in the "goodwill" of
Maskhadov and Basayev. Republic President Alu
Alkhanov declared that Maskhadov's latest
actions are "directly linked to the intensification
of the activities of Chechen law enforcement
agencies and federal security structures to
combat terrorism and banditry." Chechen State
Council head Taus Dzhabrailov did not rule out
the possibility that Maskhadov's latest order is
connected with the disappearance of his relatives:
"Maybe he has decided somehow to plant
information to the effect that he is a peacemaker
and is prepared to suspend combat operations?"
"The relatives are nothing to do with it, of
course," Abdul-Khakim Sultygov, the Russian
Federation president's former special
representative for human rights in Chechnya,
told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "I believe we have
entered a new period of terrorist threats, and
the gunmen's leaders are simply stating that they
are in full control of their armed formations and
at the same time are demonstrating the unity of
their ranks. Essentially they are indicating the
timing of new terrorist acts. As I see it, they will
begin 23 February -- the day the Chechen and
Ingush peoples were deported. Dates are always important, they are PR. So the actions of
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 22 ~
Maskhadov and Basayev are part of the media
war that generally precedes real, large-scale
terrorist sabotage actions."
Indeed, Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was
blown up in Groznyy stadium 9 May. The
terrorist act in Kaspiysk two years earlier was
carried out on Victory Day. The gunmen's bloody
raid on Nazran, in which the death toll was
around 100, was staged 22 June, the Day of
Remembrance of Victims of War. In March
Chechnya is planning to widely celebrate the
second anniversary of the adoption of the
republic's constitution. In May the country will
celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Great
Victory....
"It looks as though the statement by Basayev and
Maskhadov is a reaction to the not entirely
articulated processes regarding Chechnya that
are under way in the Kremlin. There is the sense that Moscow is beginning to rethink its Caucasus
policy," Aleksey Malashenko, member of the
academic council of the Moscow Carnegie
Center, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "First, the
situation in the North Caucasus in general is very
serious. The unsolved Chechnya problem is a
disaster against the backdrop of a possible
explosion in the North Caucasus. Second, since
the end of last year there has begun to be talk of
the possibility of the presence of an external
humanitarian force in Chechnya. This was
mentioned, in particular, in Putin's conversation
with the FRG chancellor. In other words, Russia
seems to be admitting that it cannot cope itself
and needs a 'third force.' That is the most
important point. Finally, we must note the
Chechen authorities' fierce reaction to this
'truce.' A statement by Taus Dzhabrailov that this
whole thing is a provocation and so forth was
immediately issued. This is a very interesting
aspect against the backdrop of the way he
recently described an amazing treaty between
Moscow and Groznyy, but it subsequently
emerged that there is not going to be any treaty."
Let us note that yesterday Basayev unexpectedly
was given a platform in the British mass media.
An interview with him was shown on one TV
channel, and London's The Times published a
number of statements by the "number one
terrorist" in which he announced that the
Chechen gunmen are planning new terrorist acts
on the scale of Beslan.
Moreover, the separatist leaders are already
stating that they "intend to seek independence
for all the North Caucasus republics, not only for
Ichkeria," since Moscow can no longer cope with
the "role of so-called controller" in the region.
Meanwhile yesterday Interfax's sources within
Abkhazia's security structures told the agency
that Shamil Basayev was fatally wounded in the
latter half of January in a "spat" with foreign
mercenaries and was buried in Chechnya's
Gudermesskiy Rayon. Also yesterday the General
Prosecutor's Office Administration in the North
Caucasus charged Maskhadov and Basayev with
organizing several terrorist acts, including the
hostage-taking in Beslan.
US TV Companies Eager To Cooperate
With Chechen Rebel Agencies
(Internet) Kavkaz-Tsentr News Agency WWW-
Text in Russian 1520 GMT 04 Feb 05
[Text] 4 February: The US press has widely
covered the order of the president of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria [CRI], Aslan
Maskhadov, on the unilateral truce, a
representative of the assembly to defend the
independence of the CRI in the USA has said.
The interest in the struggle of the Chechen
people has sharply increased in the USA over the
past couple of days, the representative said.
Specifically, different American TV companies are
ready to cooperate with CRI news agencies.
The representative of the assembly said that
"contacts are being established and they will be
of great significance in creating an impartial view
of the Russo-Chechen war and in destroying the
stereotypes foisted on the West by the Kremlin's
propaganda".
Russian officer: no fighting since Chechen
rebel cease-fire call publicized
SERGEI VENYAVSKY
AP Worldstream - Feb 06, 2005
There has been no fighting between Chechen
rebels and Russian forces since a pro-rebel Web
site reported last week that top separatist
leaders had called for a unilateral cease-fire, an
officer at the Russian military headquarters in the
region that includes Chechnya said Sunday.
The officer at the North Caucasus Military
District, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said no clashes with militants have been reported
in Chechnya since the purported cease-fire calls
by former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov
and warlord Shamil Basayev were publicized.
A spokeswoman for Chechnya's Interior
Ministry, Diana Delmikhanova, also said there
had been no rebel attacks or land-mine blasts for
the past three days, although she said she did not
believe that was the result of the cease-fire
announcement.
A Web site linked to the rebels,
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 23 ~
www.kavkazcenter.com, reported Wednesday
that Maskhadov, president of Chechnya during its
de-facto independence in the late 1990s, had
signed an order last month for all offensive
actions to be halted in February in Chechnya and
bordering areas as "a display of good will."
The site said Basayev ordered all rebels under his
command to halt attacks until Feb. 22 _ the day
before the anniversary of Stalin-era mass
deportation of Chechens to Central Asia. Feb. 23
is also the day Russians honor the nation's armed
forces.
Russian officials and authorities in Chechnya's
Moscow-backed government dismissed the calls
as a bluff or a publicity stunt. On Thursday, the
Interfax news agency quoted the deputy
commander in chief of the Russian Land Forces
as saying that he had just returned from
Chechnya and that rebel attacks were continuing.
But daily reports issued by Russia's headquarters
for the campaign against militants in Chechnya
and nearby regions, which it calls the
counterterrorist operation in the North
Caucasus, also appeared to indicate that no rebel
attacks have taken place in recent days.
The last three reports, issued to media Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, mention no attacks on
Russian servicemen in Chechnya. "Over the past
day, the situation on the territory of the
Chechen republic remained calm on the whole,"
Sunday's news release said.
The headquarters has claimed the statements
attributed to Maskhadov and Basayev were fake.
The Kremlin sent troops into Chechnya in 1994
in a bid to crush its separatist leadership, but
they withdrew after a devastating 20-month war
that left the southern Russian region with de
facto independence. Russian troops returned in
1999, and fighting has persisted almost daily
despite the establishment of the Moscow-backed
government.
Officials in Chechnya's government and Russian
President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin have said
there can be no negotiations with rebel leaders
over anything but their unconditional surrender,
rejecting overtures from Maskhadov and calls
from critics in Russia and abroad who have urged
peace talks.
Russian officials accuse Maskhadov of
involvement in organizing or inspiring most of the
terrorist attacks that have plagued the country in
the past few years, but they also say he has little
power over most of the militants in Chechnya.
Basayev has claimed responsibility for numerous
terrorist attacks.
Chechen rebel leader appoints negotiator
for peace talks with Moscow
AFP - 07 February 2005
MOSCOW: Chechen rebel leader Aslan
Maskhadov said he has named a top aide to
conduct peace negotiations with Moscow, but
the Kremlin dismissed the move, saying it refused
to deal with "terrorists."
Maskhadov, believed to be hiding out in
Chechnya's rugged southern mountains,
confirmed that he had ordered a temporary
truce in the war-torn breakaway republic until
February 22 as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I hope for an adequate response. Because following my order for a temporary halt to all
offensive operations I ordered the formation of a
delegation to hold contacts with the Russian
side," Maskhadov told Russian daily Kommersant.
The guerrilla leader said he had chosen Umar
Khambiyev, a former health minister in
Maskhadov's separatist administration who is
now living in exile, to lead the peace effort in a
bid to end the more than five-year conflict.
"If reason triumphs among our Kremlin
opponents, we can end this war at the
negotiating table. If not, then most likely blood
will be spilled for a long time to come but we will
not be morally responsible for the continuation
of this madness," said Maskhadov.
However, a senior presidential official said that
the Kremlin had not changed its policy of refusing
to negotiate with Maskhadov.
"These are not people with whom we can hold
talks. Maskhadov does not control the situation
and more importantly, he's a terrorist. No
country in the world is willing to deal with
terrorists," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
told AFP.
Maskhadov was elected as president of Chechnya
in 1997 in elections recognized by Moscow after
it sued for peace to end a disastrous 1994-96
war, although Russia has since branded him a
terrorist.
Once seen as a moderate figure, the former
Soviet artillery officer's influence has waned as
radicals led by warlord Shamil Basayev and linked
to al-Qaeda have staged a series of deadly attacks
on Russians civilians.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 24 ~
More than five years after pouring in troops in
October 1999 to restore control in Chechnya,
Russia remains bogged down in a bloody guerrilla
war despite setting up a pro-Moscow local
administration.
After a spate of major clashes in three
neighboring republics in the past month, analysts
suggested the Chechen rebels appeared to be
responding to a secret peace initiative from the
Kremlin, anxious about the conflict enflaming the
Caucasus.
Pro-Moscow Chechen leaders, who control
lucrative reconstruction funds allocated for the
war-shattered republic, also dismissed the talks
offer.
"Our stand is unwavering, there will be no
political contacts with Maskhadov and his circle,"
the Chechen state council chief, Taus Dzhabrailov, told the Interfax news agency.
The official Russian death toll from the war
stands at over 4,700 soldiers though independent
observers claim the true toll may be three times
higher.
The rebels are believed to have suffered large
losses as well and now operate in small gangs
through tough terrain they know well while
reverting primarily to mine warfare and hit-and-
run strikes.
Their single biggest recent attack came in the
southern Russian town of Beslan where more
than 340 people -- half of them children -- died in
a September school hostage raid masterminded
by Basayev.
In a chilling British television interview broadcast
last week sparking angry Russian protests,
Basayev warned of future attacks on Russian
targets like Beslan.
Chechen rebel leader praises truce
By SERGEI VENYAVSKY
2/7/2005
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) — A Chechen
rebel leader told a Russian newspaper that a
unilateral cease-fire he announced should help
lead to peace talks with the Kremlin, and an
official said Monday the truce had been holding
since the start of February.
Last week, a rebel Web site carried statements
by former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov
and warlord Shamil Basayev ordering a halt to all
offensive actions in February in Chechnya and
bordering areas as "a display of good will."
Maskhadov, who was president of Chechnya
during its de-facto independence in the late
1990s, said in an interview published Monday that
he hoped for an "adequate reaction" from the
Russian authorities. He added that he had named
a spokesman abroad, Umar Khambiyev, to head a
delegation for talks with Moscow.
"If our Kremlin opponents display sober reason,
the war will end at the negotiating table,"
Maskhadov told the business daily Kommersant.
"If not, bloodshed will likely continue for a long
time, but we will surrender moral responsibility
for continuing this madness."
Liliya Tengiyeva, a spokeswoman for Chechnya's
Interior Ministry, said rebels appeared to be
observing the cease-fire.
"During the last week, there have been no
serious attacks, raids or terror attacks on the territory of the republic," Tengiyeva said in a
telephone interview. "I wouldn't categorically say
that these are the consequences of the
moratorium, because such a lull is typical for the
winter. Maybe it's just a coincidence but maybe
not."
Federal officials have dismissed the calls as a bluff
or publicity stunt, but daily reports issued by
Russia's headquarters for the campaign against
militants in Chechnya and nearby regions also
appeared to indicate no rebel attacks had taken
place in recent days.
In the newspaper interview, Maskhadov again
sought to distance himself from Basayev, who has
claimed responsibility for numerous attacks,
including the September school hostage-taking in
which more than 330 people were killed. He said
he would try to prevent Basayev from carrying
out new attacks against civilians, and he repeated
his position that Basayev should face an
international tribunal.
"If Basayev obeyed my cease-fire order, I should
think that I have succeeded in averting many
terror attacks," he told Kommersant.
The rebel Web site had said Basayev ordered all
rebels under his command to halt attacks until
Feb. 22 — the day before the anniversary of
Stalin-era mass deportation of Chechens to
Central Asia. Feb. 23 is also the day Russians
honor the nation's armed forces.
Some Russian media speculated that Maskhadov's
cease-fire call was tied to the alleged abduction
of his relatives by the Chechen presidential
security service. Representatives of the Memorial
human rights center said Monday that one relative who was abducted, Movladi Aguyev, was
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 25 ~
found in the custody of federal forces in
Chechnya.
Memorial also said some 1,000 civilians had
disappeared in Chechnya in the past five years —
during the second war — after being detained. It
registered 396 abductions in Chechnya in 2004,
including those of 24 people who were later
found dead with signs of torture and a violent
death, and 495 abductions — including 52 whose
bodies were found — the previous year.
Abductions are a major problem in Chechnya,
with civilians and rights groups blaming rebels
and pro-Russian Chechen law enforcement as
well as Russian forces who detain men in daily
security sweeps.
President Vladimir Putin has rejected calls from
abroad for peace talks, saying the rebels are
international terrorists who must be eliminated. Alu Alkhanov, Chechnya's Moscow-backed
president also ruled out any talks with
Maskhadov.
The Kremlin sent troops into Chechnya in 1994
in a bid to crush its separatist leadership, but
they withdrew after a devastating 20-month war
that left the southern Russian region de facto
independent. Russian forces returned in 1999
following a rebel incursion into a neighboring
province and apartment building explosions
blamed on rebels.
Radio Commentary Criticizes Kremlin's
Refusal To Talk to Chechen Rebels
Moscow Informatsionnoye Agentstvo Ekho
Moskvy in Russian 1511 GMT 07 Feb 05
[Commentary by radio observer Sergey
Buntman]
[Text] [No dateline, as received] What is the
Russian leadership afraid of? Why is it ignoring
[Chechen separatist leader] Aslan Maskhadov's
explicit statement on a unilateral ceasefire and
the creation of a contact group [for talks with
the federal center]?
It is clear why United Russia is hiding its head in
the sand and keeps repeating that it will not
discuss anything with "a child murderer"...
[Ellipsis as received] This party - if you could call
it that - will not say a word without having been
instructed to do so. It is also clear why
[presidential envoy to the Southern Federal
District Dmitriy] Kozak refuses to comment
even on the fact of Maskhadov's appeal. A
segment of the vertical structure of power
cannot have opinions of its own.
It is also clear why the [pro-Moscow] Chechen
leadership, [President Alu] Alkhanov and [Deputy
Prime Minister Ramzan] Kadyrov, have offered
their reaction, albeit a standard one: Maskhadov,
surrender! They, although being part of the
vertical structure of power too, are authorized
to do that within the framework of the process
of "Chechenization" of the smouldering war.
All that is clear. What is not clear is what those
who are supposed to hold all the strings to the
North Caucasus settlement in their hands, and to
look strong and independent, are afraid of.
However, leaving out the "child murderer"
formula - Maskhadov's involvement with
horrendous terrorist attacks has been declared
by Moscow but has not been verified and he
himself, unlike Basayev, categorically denies his
involvement - so, leaving out any formulas, the
Kremlin and the president [Vladimir Putin] do
have something to be afraid of. Moscow has
painted itself into a corner by choosing a single model for a peace settlement for Chechnya -
through its appointed man and the Kadyrov clan.
Moscow has robbed itself of an opportunity to
reach the open ground of alternative solutions.
Were they to try and take Maskhadov at his
word, try to check whether his proposals and
offer of a ceasefire are empty words or not, the
Kremlin's shaky North Caucasus construction
would collapse. The president, and he must be
perfectly aware of this, has neither the strength
nor the opportunity to escape from under the
debris of the juggernaut he has created with his
own hands.
We have seen in Ukraine what driving oneself
into a corner can lead to. As it turned out, it is
not Moscow that decides things there. It also
turned out that one can back off, smile and
accept the new situation. The price of this
obstinacy is a loss of face and scratches on one's
prestige. Moscow's obstinacy as regards
Chechnya has a far higher price - yes, the price is
our children's lives.
Ramzan Kadyrov invites Maskhadov to lay
down arms
MOSCOW, February 7, 2005 (Itar-Tass) --
Chechnya’s first deputy prime minister, Ramzan
Kadyrov has formally invited separatist leader
Aslan Maskhadov to lay down arms and give
himself up to the authorities.
“In the current situation this is the sole possible
gesture of goodwill Maskhadov has talked about
so much,” Kadyrov told Tass in the wake of
media reports the former leader of the Ichkerian
regime has declared unilateral truce till the end
of February.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 26 ~
“What goodwill can one talk about after so many
civilians, including children and women, have died
as a result of terrorist attacks and acts of
sabotage in Grozny, Beslan and Moscow? On the
other hand, if what Maskhadov is saying is true
and he does not control those who commit
terrorist attacks, what negotiations can be
conducted with a person who does not decide
anything?” Kadyrov said. “The question arises
who will obey his orders. Maskhadov himself
recognizes that the most notorious field
commanders, including Basayev, are not
subordinate to him.”
Kadyrov believes that Maskhadov’s sudden
confessions he does not control Basayev and
other bandits testify to his intention to shirk
responsibility for committed crimes, including
those in Beslan and Ingushetia.
“The sole act of goodwill Maskhadov should take now is to lay down arms and to set an example
for others. Only by doing so he will be able to
prove that peace for the long-suffering land of
Chechnya is not empty talk for him. In the
meantime his current truce rhetoric benefits the
separatist leaders who seek to draw the world’s
attention again, and to use the pause to plan
more terrorist attacks and murders,” Kadyrov
said. In his opinion Chechnya’s law enforcement
agencies have been doing a good job and their
grip on Maskhadov and Basayev is ever tighter.
Surrender is only solution for rebel leader
Maskhadov - Chechen deputy PM
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
07, 2005
Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-
TASS
Moscow, 7 February: First Deputy Chechen
Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov today officially
called for the former leader of Ichkeria, Aslan
Maskhadov, to lay down his weapons and hand
himself in. "Recently Maskhadov has so often
talked about acts of good faith and in his situation
this is the only possible act of this kind," Kadyrov
said when asked by ITAR-TASS to comment on
the statement of the former leader of Ichkeria
published in the press announcing "a unilateral
cease-fire until the end of February".
"How can one speak of good faith when children,
women and civilians have died in terrorist attacks
and acts of sabotage in Groznyy, Beslan and
Moscow? On the other hand, if Maskhadov says
that he does not control the people who carry
out terrorist attacks, then there can be no
question of holding talks with a man who has no
real influence," Kadyrov said. "The question arises of who will carry out this [cease-fire]
order, if Maskhadov himself admits that the most
odious field commanders, including [Shamil]
Basayev, are not under his command and are not
part of the so-called armed forces of Ichkeria."
"The fact that Maskhadov has suddenly started to
admit that he does not control Basayev and the
other bandits shows his desire to avoid personal
responsibility for the crimes that have been
committed, including those in Beslan and
Ingushetia," Kadyrov continued. "The only act of
good faith that Maskhadov must perform now is
to lay down his arms himself and act as an
example for others. This is the only way he can
prove that the words peace for the long-suffering
territory of Chechnya have any meaning for him."
"All the current talk about cease-fires is actually
only for the benefit of the leaders of the fighters,
who, first, are trying to get the world's attention
and second, using this as a breathing-space to prepare for new terrorist attacks and murders,"
Kadyrov noted.
According to him "the effective work of
Chechnya's law-enforcement structures is
yielding results and the net is tightening around
Maskhadov and Basayev".
Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in
Russian 0956 gmt 7 Feb 05
Chechen President Says Rebel Leader
Maskhadov Has No Real Power
Moscow NTV Mir in Russian 1300 GMT 07 Feb
05
[From "Segodnya"]
[Excerpt] [Aleksey Sukhanov, announcer] In
response to [Chechen rebel leader Aslan]
Maskhadov's interview to the Kommersant
newspaper, in which Maskhadov spoke about a
unilateral suspension of hostilities until the end of
February and the intention to hand Basayev over
to an international tribunal, the Chechen
leadership called on Aslan Maskhadov to turn
himself in.
[Passage omitted: Chechen president Alkhanov
doesn't believe Maskhadov]
[Ramzan Kadyrov, first deputy chairman of the
Chechen government] They all have been pushed
into a corner, therefore he has no scope for this.
That's why all the actions have stopped. But
there is not a single commander who would
carry out his [Maskhadov's] orders. Why did he
not say something in Beslan? If he is president
and commander-in-chief, why did he allow Beslan
to happen? Why are there explosions, why are children being killed everywhere?
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 27 ~
[Announcer] Moscow's reaction is similar. The
Kremlin, though, has not commented on
Maskhadov's statement but the Federation
Council touched upon this topic. At a meeting
with foreign military attaches, head of defense
committee Viktor Ozerov said that Maskhadov's
words about a cease-fire is but a part of
information war.
Chechnya: Cease-Fire Holding, But Little
Chance Of Negotiations Seen
By Valentinas Mite
A unilateral cease-fire called by Chechen
separatist leaders appears to be holding -- giving
some the impression there may be an opening in
the Chechen crisis. The cease-fire was called by
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov and
warlord Shamil Basaev as a goodwill gesture to
encourage the Russians to engage in talks over the feature of the republic. Chechnya's Russian-
backed government has dismissed the move as a
publicity stunt, and observers say that with
memories of September's tragic Beslan school
siege still fresh, the Russians are not likely to
rush to the negotiating table.
Prague, 7 February 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Chechen
rebels seem to be observing a cease-fire in the
republic that was announced on 2 February to
last until 22 February.
The pro-Russian Chechen administration and
Russian military say there has been no major
fighting between Chechen rebels and Russian
forces since last week.
The Kremlin has issued no public response, but
pro-Russian Chechen President Alu Alkhanov
said on 5 February that if Maskhadov and Basaev
really want to stop terror they should turn
themselves in to police and surrender.
In an interview published by the Russian
newspaper "Kommersant-Daily" today,
Maskhadov said he is hoping for a response from
the Russian government. The separatist leader
has named a spokesman, Umar Khambiev, to
head the delegation for talks with the Kremlin.
Khambiev told RFE/RL he believes it's in the
Kremlin's best interest to start negotiations.
"We have showed and we continue to show that
we are ready for negotiations. We are different
from the people they portray us to be. We are
ready for negotiations even today and solving all
contentious questions. Otherwise this war will
not end in the way Russia wants and it is
dangerous for Russia itself," Khambiev said.
Khambiev said if the bid to start talks fails,
Chechen militants are ready to continue fighting.
He said his group is not fixated on establishing an
"independent" Chechnya, but that the main aim
of the resistance is to get guarantees for the
existence of the Chechen nation.
"It is up to negotiators to find these guarantees. If
the [negotiators] don't want to call it
'independence,' we fill find a different formula for
that. All these questions might be resolved
through negotiations. Our president says and not
without reason that 30 minutes would be enough
to talk with the president of the Russian
Federation and end this war," Khambiev said.
Khambiev said persistent rumors about Basaev's
death are not true and are part of what he called
a "Russian disinformation campaign."
"In his interview [with 'Kommersant-Daily'], President Aslan Maskhadov said that it is the
sixth time when Basaev was reportedly killed. It
means Maskhadov denied the rumors and chose
not to answer the question," Khambiev said.
Basaev has claimed responsibility for many
terrorist attacks carried out in Russia in recent
years, including last September's Beslan hostage
siege in which more than 320 people were killed.
Maskhadov condemned the Beslan siege, and has
said Basaev should face trial for his role in the
hostage taking.
Khambiev downplayed any disagreement
between Maskhadov and Basaev. "There are no
special disagreements except pointed out by the
president [Maskhadov] himself [in his interview].
He said he could not accept the means used by
Basaev, and first of all he is concerned about
actions against the peaceful Russian civilians,"
Khambiev said.
Khambiev said for this reason Maskhadov is the
best partner for the Kremlin. He said the cease-
fire indicates Maskhadov is in complete control
of the Chechen resistance.
Kirill Koktysh of the Moscow Institute of
International Relations, however, said that in his
opinion it is impossible to imagine that
Maskhadov controls all of the militant groups in
Chechnya. "He might control some militants, but
the problem is that he is one of many
[commanders]," Koktysh said. "On the whole,
Chechnya is now in [an impossible situation]
where everyone is fighting everyone else. Very
big numbers of groups, clans, and [families] are
fighting one another."
Koktysh claimed the amount of military activity in Chechnya depends more on money coming in
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 28 ~
from abroad to support the militants than on
what Maskhadov says.
(RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service contributed to
this report)
BASAYEV KILLED, MASKHADOV
PEACEFUL - TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
MOSCOW, February 7, 2005 (RIA Novosti's
writer Pyotr Romanov). On Monday,
Kommersant, a Moscow business daily, published
an interview with former Chechen leader Aslan
Maskhadov. In this interview, Maskhadov is
quoted as saying that on February 1 he had
ordered his men to suspend fighting.
This is really good news, because, even if
Maskhadov controls a dozen men, there is a
chance these few will stop killing for some time.
Another piece of good news had come from
Chechnya several days before, suggesting that
Shamil Basayev, the terrorist, was killed. What
killed him - his old wounds or new ones,
Russians in an ambush or his own cronies by
accident - is of little importance. Off with him,
anyway.
The only thing worries me is that all this is too
good to be true. No matter how hard we try to
believe it, the whole thing seems yet another
publicity project Movladi Udugov, the insurgent
spin-doctor, is so good at. Unfortunately, Mr.
Maskhadov had declared a ceasefire as many
times before as there had been rumors about
Basayev's death or about a split-up between the
two warlords. Some time later a videotape would
turn up in a cache, showing the two cheerfully
planning another attack on a Russian site.
According to Kommersant, Maskhadov pledged
to have all men accused of crimes against
humanity, including Mr. Basayev suspected of the
Moscow theater siege in 2002 and Beslan attack
in 2004, before the International Tribunal after
the war. This is also good news, though it is yet
unclear whether the same applies to Mr.
Maskhadov's own case recently filed by the
Russian General Prosecutor's Office. Of course
Maskhadov is no match to Basayev in terms of
criminal records, but he also has skeletons in the
cupboard.
The list of accusations starts from Ichkerian
(Ichkeria is the self-made name for independent
Chechnya - Ed.) prosecutors, not even Russian
ones. The federal forces once seized the
Maskhadov file, and this author was one of those
who scrutinized it page by page. These pages tell
interesting stories about former president's uncontrollable personal accounts where state
money ended up en masse, including the money
Moscow had sent to Chechnya to pay pensions;
about trains going through Grozny, looted during
what they called the "independence" of
Chechnya; of reckless and persistent thievery of
the president's personal guard, and many, many
other things, not least mysterious disappearances
of people in the basements of the so-called
"security service" that reported directly to the
president.
"It is up to the Almighty to decide, and the
Almighty is mighty kind," Mr. Maskhadov used to
say. He might be confident enough about a future
interview with the Almighty, but the prosecutor
should come first - and for long. If Maskhadov is
aware of that, there is hardly any chance that he
will ever surrender or arrange a ceasefire. With a
little help from the Almighty, perhaps...
Dagestani Mujahideen waiting for President Maskhadov's order
Kavkaz Center
2005-02-08 00:58:49
Kavkaz Center's editors received a statement
issued by the Shariah Unit of Dagestani
Resistance Forces (Mujahideen). The statement
says:
In the name of God, Most Compassionate, Most
Gracious. Peace and blessing be to Commander
of All Mujahideen Prophet Muhammad, to his
family, to his disciples and to all of those who
followed them in the Jihad until the Day of
Judgment.
Due to the information that was being spread
through Dagestani (pro-Russian) mass media,
claiming that Dagestani Mujahideen (Resistance
Fighters) did not suspend their war operations
on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan,
which allegedly is a violation of the order of
Commander-In-Chief, President Maskhadov, on
unilateral suspension of offensive war operations
on the territories of Chechnya and Russia, The
Shariah, the Congress of Islamic War Council
(Jamaat) of Dagestan hereby clarifies:
The order mentions the unilateral suspension of
offensive war operations only on the territories
of Chechnya and Russia. No order was received
about suspension of any war operations on the
territory of Dagestan.
Therefore, The Shariah War Council will
continue carrying out its combat operations in
accordance with the ratified plan until the next
appropriate order comes from Commander-In-
Chief, President Maskhadov.
Meanwhile the sources of Russian invaders
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 29 ~
reported that combat clashes were going on
throughout the whole day last Saturday on the
outskirts of the city of Makhachkala (capital of
Dagestan) in the vicinity of Mount Tarki-Tau. No
details of the battle were reported, except for
one commando of Russian special forces being
killed and several wounded. No information has
been available about casualties among Dagestani
Armed Forces, against whom the military
operation was allegedly being conducted.
The combats stopped in the vicinity of Tarki-Tau
by Saturday evening. Sources of the Russian
invaders reported that the operation against
Dagestani Armed Forces was accomplished, but
the armed unit of Dagestanis somehow managed
to escape. (Allegedly, Mr. Muslim Makasharipov
was spotted in that unit).
Chechen Rebel Leader Calls On West To
Help End War
MOSCOW, Feb 8, 2005 (AFP) -- Chechen rebel
leader Aslan Maskhadov called Tuesday [8
February] on the West to mediate an end to his
Muslim republic's war against Russia even as the
separatists' top warlord vowed unstinting
resistance, in a clear split in the rebel command.
The Kavkazcenter Internet site released a
statement by the ousted Chechen president
urging peace. But it also broadcast a video it said
was of Russia's enemy number one Shamil
Basayev proclaiming an endless campaign.
Pro-Moscow Chechen leaders said the odd
exchange was a farce and once again offered
Maskhadov a chance to give up while dismissing
negotiations.
The conflicting rebel statements reflected
infighting within the Chechen resistance and a
struggle over strategy in a conflict that has
spanned more than a decade of on and off
warfare claiming tens of thousands of lives.
Maskhadov said in his statement that he
"confirms a commitment to civilized methods of
resolving difficult political questions."
The Chechen rebel leadership was "willing to
demonstrate its desire for peace and calls on the
United Nations, the European Union, the Council
of Europe and the democratic governments of
Europe and the United States to change their
stance" and help end the war, he said.
Rebels offered a ceasefire last Wednesday and
only one pro-Russian Chechen policeman has
been confirmed killed since then in a rare quiet
spell in the war.
But Moscow-linked leaders of Chechnya and
Kremlin officials have dismissed Maskhadov's calls
for talks while President Vladimir Putin -- the
latest war's architect -- has refused to comment
on the peace offers after proclaiming the war
over and won on repeated occasions.
"We cannot talk about negotiations with those
who are involved in bloody deeds," pro-Moscow
Chechen leader Alu Alkhanov was quoted as
saying by Interfax.
Analysts said the call appeared futile because the
West feared straining ties with Moscow over
Chechnya and guerrillas allegedly tied to the Al-
Qa'ida terror network.
The Chechens "have nothing to gain in the West,
which would prefer not to freeze ties with
Putin," said political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky.
Only one official round of peace negotiations was
held during the second war launched in October
1999. It ended with Moscow demanding
unconditional surrender. The Kremlin has since
insisted it will hold no further talks with
"terrorists."
Russia received a stark reminder of the relentless
unrest in its Caucasus region with Basayev's
reappearance on the Internet.
The warlord slammed a knife into his artificial
right leg several times in Kavkazcenter footage,
dated Sunday, as he vowed that his followers
would keep on fighting the Russians even after
his death.
"I do not understand how the stronger side, and
the Chechen side is the stronger side, can simply
end a war," said the thickly-bearded Basayev,
dressed in a camouflaged army outfit.
Russian media has been filled with a new round
of reports about the possible death of Basayev,
the man who masterminded the Beslan school
hostage siege that left more than 340 people --
half of them children -- dead in September.
But Basayev reappeared to announce that rebels
would pursue their resistance even if he were
dead.
"I would also like to address the Chechen people:
should they kill me, if Doku (Umarov) is killed,
Maskhadov is killed, we are killed all together, or
we die on our own, for we must all die at one
point, the jihad will not stop there."
Meanwhile Russia's self-exiled tycoon Boris
Berezovskiy, once a pointman on Chechnya, added another startling note in the debate over
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 30 ~
the ongoing war, saying he believed the
Chechens had access to nuclear weapons.
Berezovskiy told Moscow Echo radio that rebels
had offered to sell him a "portable" nuclear bomb
two and a half years ago and that he alerted the
US embassy in London, but the case was
dropped.
The Russian foreign ministry issued an angry
statement after his comments, accusing the
billionaire of trying to spawn panic.
Chechen rebels in peace plea to Kremlin
By Neil Buckley in Moscow
Financial Times
Published: February 8 2005 02:00 | Last updated:
February 8 2005 02:00
Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen rebel leader,
yesterday urged the Kremlin to start peace talks, days after he announced a ceasefire by rebel
forces.
His comments were published as rumours
continued to circulate about the death of Shamil
Basayev, the radical separatist who masterminded
last year's siege at a school in Beslan in which
more than 330 people died.
Late on Sunday, Russia's state-owned Channel 1
featured the rumours prominently in its main
evening news programme. Sources in the
Caucasus said last week that Mr Basayev had died
from a kidney problem or complications linked
to the amputation of his foot after he stepped on
a mine in 2000, or possibly in a dispute over
money with his own men.
Russia has always refused to negotiate with Mr
Maskhadov, who dissociates himself from Mr
Basayev, accusing him of being involved in attacks
on civilians and expressing doubt over the extent
of his control over rebel forces.
However, if the ceasefire holds until February 22,
the deadline set by Mr Maskhadov, that could put
pressure on Russia, which some analysts think is
also seeking a way to end the 10-year-old
conflict, to respond.
Chechen interior ministry officials said yesterday
there had been no serious rebel attacks or raids
since February 1.
Mr Maskhadov told Kommersant newspaper he
had offered the ceasefire not as a signal of his
strength but as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.
"If sober reason prevails among our opponents in the Kremlin, then we can finish this war at the
negotiating table," Mr Maskhadov said. "If not,
most likely blood will flow for a long time, but
we will not carry the moral responsibility for the
continuation of this madness."
Mr Maskhadov played down the rumours of Mr
Basayev's death, saying this was already the fifth
or sixth time in six years he had been reported
dead.
The Kremlin immediately dismissed Mr
Maskhadov as a terrorist and said it had not
changed its policy of refusing to negotiate with
him. The pro-Moscow Chechen administration
also said there would be no talks.
Chechen President Suggests Subordinating
Security Structures to Local Command
Moscow Gazeta in Russian 08 Feb 05 pp 4-5
[Report by Vladimir Barinov: "Basayev in Exchange for Negotiations"]
[Excerpt] There will be no talks with Aslan
Maskhadov. That is the Chechen leaders'
response to the rebel leaders' proposal to sit
down at the conference table made in an
interview published yesterday in the Kommersant
newspaper. In the interview the "president of
Ichkeria" called the unilateral truce he has
allegedly declared a "goodwill gesture" and for
the first time voiced a readiness to hand Shamil
Basayev and other bandit ringleaders involved in
crimes against humanity over to an international
tribunal. Nonetheless, the Russian siloviki do not
believe Maskhadov, seeing his statements as an
attempt to make his presence felt in the
international arena and to gain a respite in
fighting the federal forces. Meanwhile Chechen
President Alu Alkhanov has come out with the
initiative to transfer the operational leadership of
the security structures in the republic to the
control of the local siloviki. [passage omitted]
Against this background Alu Alkhanov's
statement regarding a possible change to the
system for controlling security structures in
Chechnya looks rather curious. In the opinion of
the republic's president, at present "there is no
need for the multi-level system of leadership of
forces and facilities." Alkhanov believes that the
leaders of the local MVD [Internal Affairs
Ministry], FSB [Federal Security Service], military
commandant's office, and prosecutor's office
should be answerable for everything taking place
in the republic. Thus, he speaks almost outright
of the expediency of transferring leadership of
the fight against the militants away from federal
structures (the Regional Operations
Headquarters for the Control of the
Counterterrorist Operation in the North Caucasus) to local structures. Alu Alkhanov's
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 31 ~
assistant Muslim Khuchiyev explained to Gazeta
that so far this proposal is the personal opinion
of the Chechen president. It is based on a desire
to remove "a certain vagueness" in the struggle
against the terrorists and to enhance
responsibility for what is happening with regard
to certain officials in the leadership of the
republic's law enforcement agencies. The
Chechen administration believes that substantial
successes have been achieved recently in the fight
against the bandit underground, and the militants
can no longer carry out wide-scale sorties and
the Chechen police (there are about 15,000 of
them -- Gazeta) can perfectly well deal with them
themselves. All the federal forces deployed
permanently in Chechnya should be operationally
subordinate to the republican authorities, the
republic's leadership believes.
Gazeta's sources in the federal forces' security
structures note that Alu Alkhanov's proposal is not new. Not long before his death in May last
year Akhmat Kadyrov came out with a similar
initiative. The special services officers note that
the scenario of handing control to the local
authorities is possible if only as an experiment.
However, so far all these proposals are only
being debated and no specific decisions have
been made. Perhaps this is connected to the fact
that the professionals are insisting on improving
the Chechen police's professional standard and
on training new, qualified personnel. As of now
the changes have affected only the commandants'
offices in Chechnya -- they have been transferred
from Defense Ministry subdivisions to the
control of MVD Internal Troops units.
Chechen rebel leader calls for peace talks
ISN SECURITY WATCH (08/02/05) - Chechen
rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has followed up
last week's unilateral ceasefire declaration by
calling on Moscow to engage in peace talks and
asking the international community to play a role
in settling the conflict in Chechnya. Russian
officials and Chechnya commentators have called
the move a propaganda stunt to garner Western
sympathies, which plunged after a rebel hostage-
taking raid on a crowded school in the southern
Russian republic of North Ossetia in September.
Observers also suggested that the call for peace
talks with Moscow was an attempt to win the
rebels some time to recuperate in the difficult
winter period.
Moscow-backed Chechen president Alu
Alkhanov responded to the rebel appeal on
Tuesday by calling for Maskhadov to surrender.
Other senior Chechen officials argued that the
rebels could no longer sustain intensive guerilla
warfare and were acting from a position of weakness rather than good will. The Russian
media quoted Chechnya analysts on Tuesday as
saying that nothing in the conflict had changed
over the past months to bring the two sides
closer to the idea of a political settlement.
Also on Tuesday, the rebel website posted a
video statement by Chechen warlord Shamil
Basaev, in which he denied rumors about his
death that had been circulating in the Russian
press over the past week. He also pledged
respect for Maskhadov's truce.
In an interview published by the respected
Kommersant daily on Monday, Maskhadov vowed
to hand Basaev over to an international tribunal
to be tried for terrorist attacks claimed by the
warlord, but only after the conflict ended.
Maskhadov, elected president of independent
Chechnya in the late 1990s, has regularly
denounced Basaev’s violent methods. Basaev has
consistently threatened Russia with new major terrorist attacks. Maskhadov said in the interview
that if the Kremlin rejected his offer for peace
talks, the bloodshed would continue, but the
rebels could no longer be held morally
responsible for that.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected any
possibility of holding talks with the rebels since
their hostage-taking raid on a Moscow theater in
October 2002, arguing that the rebels were
international terrorists who must be eliminated,
and that Maskhadov - the most likely negotiating
partner for the rebels - had no control over the
warlords.
In related news, exiled Russian tycoon and one-
time powerful political player Boris Berezovsky
told the Russian daily Komsolskaya Pravda that
the Chechen rebels had obtained a portable
nuclear device. The Russian Foreign Ministry
dismissed the claim in an official statement on
Tuesday. (By Nabi Abdullaev in Moscow)
Chechen President Calls on Maskhadov To
Acknowledge Guilt
Report by Yevgeny Sobetsky
GROZNY, February 8, 2005 (Itar-Tass) -
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov has commented
on "an initiative" put forward by Chechen
warlord Aslan Maskhadov who suggested a
unilateral ceasefire in Chechnya.
Maskhadov should rather acknowledge his guilt
to the Chechen people for innocent victims, grief
and sorrow that he brought to Chechnya in the
past years and the harm Maskhadov is doing to
Chechnya at present, rather than suggest peace
initiatives, the Chechen president said.
The Russian Prosecutor's Office always keeps its
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 32 ~
doors open to Maskhadov and his accomplices if
they have a wish to repent their deeds, Alkhanov
said. "Let him come and say if he has anything to
tell about that, " Alkhanov said.
"Maskhadov had a real possibility to prevent a
second Chechen war if he had condemned
Basayev for invasion into Dagestan. However,
Maskhadov never did that, and at present, all his
initiatives are taken merely as his wish to make
the world remember him," Alkhanov noted.
Alkhanov does not rule out that bandit
formations might stage subversive and terrorist
acts before and after February 22. Nonetheless,
the Chechen president dismissed possible
terrorist acts as an attempt "to bite", rather than
change the real situation.
"The bandits have neither strength nor means to
plunge Chechnya into a turmoil of a new war, while we have enough power so as to bring the
positive transformations in Chechnya to a logical
end," Alkhanov said.
Preventive security checks have been held in
Chechnya at present with the aim to frustrate
warlords' plans to stage new serious terrorist
acts in Chechnya, Alkhanov said.
Russian Politicians Against Talks With
Chechen Leader Maskhadov
Moscow ITAR-TASS in Russian 1058 GMT 08
Feb 05
[Excerpt] Moscow, 8 February: Rather than
putting forward peaceful initiatives, [Chechen
rebel leader] Aslan Maskhadov should ask the
Chechen people to forgive him for innocent
victims, and misery and suffering which he has
brought into the republic in the past years. This
is how, in today's interview with ITAR-TASS,
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov commented on
Maskhadov's initiative to announce a unilateral
cease-fire in the republic. [passage omitted:
repeat of previous reports]
He said Maskhadov had had a real opportunity
"to prevent the second Chechen war if he had
condemned [Chechen rebel commander Shamil]
Basayev for his raid on Dagestan. "The region's
leader [Maskhadov] did not want to do so, and
today all his initiatives can only be regarded as a
publicity stunt," Alkhanov said.
The Chechen president did not rule out the
possibility that both before and after 22 February
bandit groups will make attempts to stage
terrorist acts and acts of sabotage. "These will be
attempts to sting us but they cannot really
change the situation," he believes. The bandits have neither forces nor resources to "throw us
off the course the republic is now following and
plunge it into the abyss of a new war". "We,
conversely, have enough resources to carry out
positive reforms until the logical end," Alkhanov
said. He said that in the Chechen Interior
Ministry and other law-enforcement bodies
people are working in the knowledge that "they
are following the right path".
Alkhanov also said pre-emptive scheduled special
operations were now under way in the republic
to thwart attempts by leaders of bandit
formations to stage serious terrorist acts.
[At 1221 GMT ITAR-TASS quoted Duma MP
from Chechnya Akhmar Zavgayev as saying that
the former president of the so-called Ichkeria,
Aslan Maskhadov, "does not belong to himself"
and is totally dependent on international
terrorism and its operative in Chechnya, Shamil
Basayev.
At 1035 GMT RIA-Novosti reported that
Federation Council speaker Sergey Mironov is
categorically against talks with Chechen rebels. "I
was reminded of an old truth: beware Greeks
bearing gifts, as this is an attempt to lull
vigilance," he was quoted by RIA-Novosti as
saying. On the other hand, Mironov is not sure at
all that Maskhadov "really controls anything in
the Chechen Republic".]
State Duma Deputy Says Maskhadov
Depends on International Terrorism
By Sergei Ovsiyenko
MOSCOW, February 8, 2005 (Itar-Tass) -- Ex-
president of so-called Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov
is not his own man, has not been such for a long
time. He fully depends on international terrorism
and its placeman in Chechnya, Shamil Basayev,
holds deputy of the State Duma from the
Chechen Republic, Akhmar Zavgayev.
"Maskhadov's statement about unilaterally ending
hostilities is nothing more than a propaganda
ploy in the information war launched by
provocateur Udugov", Zavgayev told Tass on
Tuesday.
Maskhadov had an opportunity to end the war
and bring the republic back to peaceful
construction, Zavgayev said. Nevertheless, it was
not without Maskhadov's part that Arab
mercenaries and Basayev started to train
terrorists and saboteurs in Chechnya in mid-90s.
The Ichkeria regime channelled children's
benefits and pensions of the aged for the training
of terrorists in camps.
"Maskhadov was late with peace proposals when Basayev launched war on Dagestan. In that way,
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 33 ~
'Ichkeria' president showed once again that he
was not his own man", the deputy said.
He believes Maskhadov will hardly dare give
himself up to law enforcement bodies - so great
his guilt to the Chechen people is. "On the other
hand, Basayev and his accomplices will not allow
this, as they need a sort of fetish in their criminal
activities", the deputy said.
"The do-gooders in the West would like Russia
to get down to a negotiating table with
Maskhadov. But I have a lot of questions to ask
them in this connection, the main question being
if Maskhadov, dependent on international
terrorism, can control the situation in the
republic", Zavgayev said.
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov, in his turn, said
that Aslan Maskhadov should acknowledge his
guilt to the Chechen people, instead of advancing "peace initiatives". Alkhanov said, "The door to
the prosecutor's office and to any power
structure is always open to Maskhadov and his
accomplices if he wants to repent, to ask
forgiveness of the Chechen people". "If he has
anything to say in this respect, let him come and
say this", the Chechen president said.
Sides Differ on Sincerity of Chechen Rebel
Leader's Peace Offer
Moscow Kommersant in Russian 08 Feb 05 p 4
[Report by Musa Muradov: "Aslan Maskhadov
Still Seeking Reconciliation. But He Is Asked to
Surrender"]
[Text] Yesterday Russian and Chechen politicians
were commenting on the Aslan Maskhadov
interview published the day before in
Kommersant. All their comments came down to
the view that Aslan Maskhadov has to give
himself up and that he has nothing to negotiate
about, since there is nothing he can decide. Mr
Maskhadov himself, though, made another appeal
to Russia's leadership yesterday, declaring himself
ready for dialogue "without prior conditions."
The pretext for the Aslan Maskhadov interview
was his order to "the armed forces of Ichkeria"
to unilaterally halt combat actions on and outside
Chechen territory until the end of February. At
the same time the Ichkerian president once again
invited the Russian leadership to negotiate. The
Russian side's response was entirely predictable:
His opponents not only rejected the very
possibility of negotiations but also cast doubt on
the genuineness of Maskhadov's "peace" order.
Maskhadov spokespeople countered by claiming
that the order was real and that their president's
peace initiatives were absolutely sincere. They were still not believed.
As a result Mr Maskhadov reaffirmed in his
Kommersant interview that he really had signed
the order and was now hoping for an
"appropriate reaction" from the Russian side. In
addition, the "commander of the Ichekerian
armed forces" distanced himself clearly from
Shamil Basayev, condemning his actions and
promising to hand him over to the International
Tribunal on Crimes Against Humanity.
Official Russian leadership spokespeople
preferred not to notice yesterday's interview at
all. At least, there were no comments
forthcoming from them yesterday. There was
enthusiastic comment from Chechnya, by
contrast. "I think that he (Maskhadov --
Kommersant) has realized the hopelessness of
his position, so he is looking frantically for a way
out of the corner into which he has driven
himself," Kommersant's correspondent was told yesterday by Chechen State Council Chair Taus
Dzhabrailov. Mr Dzhabrailov suggested,
moreover, that by making such statements the
"president of Ichkeria" is preparing the ground
for a voluntary surrender. "At any rate, that
would be the most sensible way out for him," the
State Council chair believes. Chechen President
Alu Alkhanov expressed himself in the same vein:
"There is nothing to negotiate with the Chechen
separatists' leader about, and his promise to hand
Shamil Basayev over to a tribunal is one he
cannot keep, for the simple reason that he can
decide nothing and has no one under his
command."
Aslan Maskhadov's supporters, however, are
entirely optimistic. "We have not received any
proposals from the Russian side, but we are
hoping that it will happen," the Ichkerian
president's general representative Umar
Khambiyev stated to Kommersant yesterday. He
claims that the Maskhadov initiatives have already
sparked the interest of "influential European
politicians" who are thoroughly determined to
promote a resolution of the Chechen conflict.
"For the moment I cannot be any more specific
about this, but you will soon hear all about it,"
Mr Khambiyev promised. As far as Aslan
Maskhadov himself is concerned, he is still hoping
to find a common language with the federal
authorities. According to Mr Khambiyev, he has
already made another appeal to the Russian
leadership and the world community in which he
expresses readiness for political dialogue
"without prior conditions."
Russia Faces Chechen Cease-Fire Bid
Amid international pressure on the Kremlin to
end the fighting, two fugitive rebel leaders offer
to halt attacks and begin peace talks By Kim Murphy
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 34 ~
Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
February 8, 2005
MOSCOW — After years of war in the
separatist republic of Chechnya, Russia faces an
offer that politically is almost as difficult: an end
to the fighting.
Rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov confirmed
Monday that he had ordered a unilateral cease-
fire and appointed an emissary to attend peace
talks on the conflict, which has killed tens of
thousands of people since 1994.
Another rebel leader, Shamil Basayev, who has
claimed responsibility for the September assault
on a school in the southern Russia town of
Beslan that left 331 hostages dead, said last week
that he would observe the cease-fire.
The two announcements significantly upped the
ante for Russia, which faces growing international
pressure for a political solution to the war.
President Vladimir V. Putin has long refused to
negotiate with separatist leaders, and officials
Monday left no doubt that they would not take
Maskhadov up on his cease-fire offer.
"Maskhadov doesn't represent anyone but
himself, so there is nothing to discuss," said Yury
Sharandin, head of the constitutional legislation
committee in the Federation Council, the upper
house of parliament.
"The sole act of goodwill Maskhadov should take
now is to lay down arms and set an example to
others. Only by doing so will he be able to prove
that peace for the long-suffering land of
Chechnya is not empty talk for him," Chechnya's
deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, told the
Itar-Tass news agency.
Moscow last week criticized British Channel 4's
broadcast of Basayev declaring he also was
"planning Beslan-type operations in the future."
Russia has offered a $10-million reward for the
two leaders' captures. Though Maskhadov has
condemned terror attacks in recent months and
threatened to put Basayev on trial, Russia has
held both responsible for suicide bombings and
other attacks against Russian civilians.
Russian television showed footage Monday of
Maskhadov that it said was aired by Al Jazeera
television two weeks after the Beslan siege in
which he spoke glowingly of a dead Saudi
believed to be Al Qaeda's envoy in Chechnya.
Maskhadov said there were "very many …
brothers from Arab countries" in Chechnya — an assertion that Russia considered proof of
Maskhadov's Al Qaeda connections.
Maskhadov, a former president of Chechnya, told
the newspaper Kommersant on Monday that he
had ordered his field commanders to observe a
cease-fire until Feb. 22. "It is a gesture of
goodwill. It's one more invitation to the other
side to sit down at the negotiating table," he said.
After Feb. 22, he added, "it's all in the hands of
God, and his mercy is boundless. If our Kremlin
opponents are reasonable, the war will end at
the negotiating table. If not, blood will continue
to be spilled for a long time yet, but we will
reject any moral responsibility for this continued
madness."
The date has significance for Russians and
Chechens. Russians observe Feb. 23 as the day
the Red Army was founded in 1918, and Armed
Services Day, formerly Red Army Day, is still a major holiday. In 1944, Chechens' deportation to
Kazakhstan began that day on the orders of Josef
Stalin, who accused them of collaborating with
the invading Nazis.
Across Russia, there has been growing
discomfort with the conflict and mounting
pressure to end it through negotiations.
The Soldiers' Mothers Committee, a rights group
formed by Russian mothers whose sons have
served in Chechnya, offered in October to meet
with Maskhadov's envoy in Europe, but the talks
never took place.
"Since Putin believes that his political career is
closely connected with the Chechen war, he
doesn't want to hear anything about the
termination of hostilities," said committee leader
Valentina Melnikova. "We finally figured out that
peaceful appeals fell on deaf ears on Putin's side,
so we had to address the other side, the field
commanders."
Also last fall, the Parliamentary Assn. of the
Council of Europe's political affairs committee
drafted a resolution saying Russia had failed to
distinguish between Chechen rebels advocating
political dialogue and those instigating attacks.
That approach is "one of the big errors of
Russian policy," the statement said.
"Without the moderate nationalists and
autonomists to be heard and listened to, only the
most violent and criminal elements with links to
international terrorism got a 'voice,' " the
resolution concluded. "In order to make peace,
one needs the 'other side.' "
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov, elected in August in a Kremlin-supervised vote, said the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 35 ~
European parliamentary body would participate
in talks March 3 with the Chechen government
and ex-ministers from Maskhadov's
administration.
Usman Ferzauli, Maskhadov's envoy in
Copenhagen, said the former ministers could not
negotiate.
"The so-called representatives of the Maskhadov
government in these discussions are in fact some
former Chechen legislators who … have been
recruited by the Kremlin to give this process an
air of some serious consultations," he said by
telephone. "Nothing can come of such
discussions."
Maskhadov Raises Stakes in Chechnya
By Nabi Abdullaev
Staff Writer
Moscow Times Tuesday, February 8, 2005. Issue 3101. Page 1
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov on
Monday followed up his declaration of a cease-
fire with a call for the Kremlin to start peace
talks and for the international community to play
a part in settling the conflict. Nothing seems
likely to come from Maskhadov's appeals, but his
forces still stand to benefit from halting their
attacks.
The cease-fire allows his forces to rest and
regroup during the winter, when conditions are
most difficult. It also would allow the rebels to
restore a chain of command if radical warlord
Shamil Basayev is indeed dead, as security officials
in Abkhazia have claimed.
The pro-Moscow government in Chechnya has
rebuffed Maskhadov's call for peace talks, and the
Kremlin has so far remained silent. This, too,
plays into Maskhadov's hands, by allowing him to
take the lead in the international propaganda war.
Maskhadov was quoted in the Monday issue of
Kommersant as saying that the one-month truce,
which he announced early last Thursday and
which so far has appeared to be holding, should
ultimately lead to peace talks with the Kremlin.
"If not, the bloodshed will likely continue for a
long time, but we will surrender moral
responsibility for the continuation of this
madness," he said.
Maskhadov also vowed to hand over Basayev --
who has organized a series of terrorist attacks --
to an international tribunal if he and the Kremlin
negotiate an end to the conflict in Chechnya.
The Kavkaz Center web site posted a new statement by Maskhadov on Monday evening in
which he calls on Russia to stop the bloodshed,
saying the rebels are open for "real political
dialogue with the Kremlin without any
preliminary conditions."
He also called on the United States, United
Nations, Council of Europe and European Union
to "abandon the roles of extras and to get
actively involved in the plan that we are
proposing for settling the military and political
conflict between Russia and Ichkeria."
Maskhadov told the newspaper that he has
already appointed a team, headed by his ally
Umar Khambiyev, whom he described as his
"chief representative abroad," to negotiate with
the Kremlin.
The Kremlin has so far made no statement on
the unilateral cease-fire or appeal for peace talks.
The Russian leadership has repeatedly rejected Maskhadov's calls for peace talks in the past,
casting doubt on how much real control he
wields over Basayev and other rebel
commanders.
A spokeswoman for the presidential
administration, who refused to give her name,
said late Monday that although Putin has not
made any public mention of Maskhadov's
proposal, this does not mean that it is not being
discussed in the Kremlin.
The only response from federal authorities so far
has been an announcement last Thursday by the
Prosecutor General's Office that Maskhadov was
being charged with complicity in organizing the
hostage-taking raid on the Beslan school on Sept.
1. More than 330 people, about half of them
children, died in the raid, for which Basayev
assumed responsibility.
Unlike the Kremlin, Chechnya's pro-Moscow
administration responded to Maskhadov's
initiative by saying it was ready to talk to anyone
but Maskhadov and Basayev, and urged their
fighters to come out of the forests and lay down
their arms.
"We are ready to talk to anyone who will
approach us from the criminal circles and gangs,
and we are ready to do whatever depends on us
to make these people return to a normal
peaceful life," Chechen President Alu Alkhanov
told journalists Saturday.
Hundreds of former rebels have responded to
past amnesties in Chechnya, with many of them
later joining local police units notorious for their
brutality and corruption.
Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's deputy prime
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 36 ~
minister, said the rebel leaders were negotiating
from a position of weakness. "Neither
Maskhadov nor Basayev has the strength to
conduct any actions in the Chechen republic,"
Kadyrov said in an interview on NTV television
Monday.
Taus Dzhabrailov, head of Chechnya's State
Council, said Maskhadov is stalling for time.
"Law enforcement agents and the security
structures are virtually on the heels of
Maskhadov and his people, thus they need to
achieve a break by any means possible to gather
strength for new terrorist attacks," Dzhabrailov
told Interfax on Monday. "Maskhadov is seeking
any means to stall search operations in the
mountainous parts of Chechnya."
Maskhadov realizes that his latest call for peace
talks will most likely go unanswered. Yet he is pushing the idea as a way to help repair the
damage done to the rebels' cause by the Beslan
raid, said Leonid Syukiyainen, an analyst with the
Institute of State and Law of the Russian
Academy of Sciences.
"Maskhadov's proposal is nothing more than an
effort to demonstrate to many inside Chechnya
and outside Russia that it is Moscow that is
resisting peace talks," Syukiyainen said.
He said unless the Kremlin breaks its silence and
at least repeats its earlier demands that
Maskhadov order his forces to surrender and
hand over terrorists, including Basayev,
Maskhadov will win the war for the attention, if
not the sympathy, of the international
community.
Basayev's death has been reported by security
officials in Abkhazia, who cite his relatives living
in the separatist Georgian republic. When asked
by Kommersant to confirm Basayev's death,
Maskhadov would only note that reports of
Basayev's death had surfaced five or six times
over the past six years.
Britain's Channel Four television aired an
interview with Basayev late Thursday. The
interview, in which he promised more hostage-
taking raids, was filmed in early January. Basayev,
according to the Chechen rebel web site, has
supported Maskhadov's cease-fire order.
The Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest
with the British Foreign Office over the channel's
Basayev interview.
Syukiyainen, however, said the Kremlin should do
more to make its position on Chechnya clear.
"In many places abroad, Chechen rebels are
extremely active in portraying the conflict in
Chechnya to their benefit," he said. "Moscow
needs to take the initiative away from them and
offer its own detailed vision of the situation."
One reason Russian officials have avoided the
issue of Chechnya is that they are following
Putin's lead, said Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the
Panorama think tank.
"If Putin does not think of the current situation
as an opportunity, everyone in his retinue thinks,
why should he run ahead of the president?"
Pribylovsky said.
Maskhadov's cease-fire declaration won instant
praise from the American Committee for Peace
in Chechnya, which called on Moscow to begin
talks with Maskhadov.
"The American Committee welcomes this
initiative as yet another offer by President
Maskhadov to end violence and renew dialogue
toward a political resolution of the decade-long
conflict," the committee said in a statement
circulated Friday. "Likewise, ACPC calls on
Russian authorities to consider Maskhadov's call
for peace and begin talks on a negotiated
settlement."
Russian government paper dismisses
Chechen rebels' truce offer
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
11, 2005
Text of report by Natalya Kozlova, entitled
"Confessional interview. Aslan Maskhadov's
publicity stunt intended for the West", in Russian
newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on 8 February
The Chechen separatist leader's interview has
appeared at a very timely moment. Another two
or three months, and many people might even
have forgotten about Aslan Maskhadov.
Life in Chechnya is hard and uneven, but it is
getting back to normal, but the Ichkerian
separatist leader's confessions are certainly not
designed for "internal consumption" but for
"external use".
It is pointless talking to anyone living in or near
Chechnya about the bandits' so-called peace
moves. Even in the few days of Maskhadov's
"truce" 12 terrorist attacks have been averted.
But, with an eye on those far removed from the
daily realities of the Caucasus and Russia
generally, this kind of PR shot is very much to
the point. First, as a reminder of himself as a
leader who means something; and second, as usual, as a request for money.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 37 ~
We learn from Maskhadov's interview that he
wants to "avert a real threat... [ellipsis as
published] to all the peoples of Russia and the
Caucasus" - no more and no less. To look good
for the West, Maskhadov disowns the bloodiest
actions and even promises to present the
International [Criminal] Tribunal with the heads
of Shamil Basayev and any others involved in
"crimes against humanity". Then he concludes by
promising, as usual, the standard range of
horrors: The war will go on and the bloodshed
will continue long into the future, but it will be
the Kremlin, naturally, and not he, Maskhadov,
who will be responsible. So who has been
responsible up to now?
If we discount the offer to hand Basayev over to
international justice, the interview is absolutely
indistinguishable from statements that the
gunmen's boss has been making throughout recent years.
Aslan Maskhadov also mentioned the
Prosecutor-General's Office, saying that the
investigators' charges do not trouble him. The
Prosecutor-General's Office itself has simply paid
no attention to Maskhadov's interview and sees
no need to comment on it. As they themselves
confirmed to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, for the
prosecutors Maskhadov remains someone
charged in his absence under several
"heavyweight" articles of the Criminal Code. And
he still continues to be charged with crimes for
which he is on the international wanted list.
All the commentaries that have appeared since
the "order to halt combat actions" and the
Maskhadov interview itself effectively say the
same thing. The president's plenipotentiary
representative in the Southern Federal District,
Dmitriy Kozak, thinks that Maskhadov is simply
no more in control of the situation in Chechnya
now than he was even when he was ensconced in
Groznyy, and that in fact the interview is only the
latest attempt to remind people that he exists.
In response to the "truce" the leadership of
Chechnya has again officially offered the former
leader of the Ichkeria regime the opportunity to
surrender. And Chechen Republic President Alu
Alkhanov responded to Maskhadov's promise to
bring Basayev to justice by saying that he does
not trust his words. Alkhanov is convinced that
Maskhadov has no intention of handing Basayev
over "dead or alive". Chechen First Deputy
Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said practically
the same thing, suggesting that Maskhadov simply
lay down his arms and surrender to the
authorities. "What kind of goodwill can we talk
about when children, women and peaceable citizens have died as a result of terrorism and
sabotage in Groznyy, Beslan and Moscow? On
the other hand, if Maskhadov says that he has no
control over those committing the terrorist
attacks, what is the point of holding talks at all
with someone who has no real power?" Kadyrov
declared. "You cannot help wondering who is
going to carry out the directive if Maskhadov
himself admits that the most odious field
commanders, including Basayev, are not under
his command and are not part of the so-called
armed forces of Ichkeria."
The fact that Maskhadov has suddenly begun to
admit that he does not control Basayev or the
other bandits is evidence of his desire to escape
personal responsibility for the crimes that have
been committed, including those in Beslan and
Ingushetia, Kadyrov thinks. The only goodwill act
that Maskhadov needs to accomplish right now is
to lay down his arms himself and set an example
to the others. All the current talk about a truce is actually only beneficial to the gunmen's leaders,
who are trying, first, to draw attention to
themselves around the world and, second, to
take advantage of the respite to prepare for
renewed terrorist attacks and murders, Ramzan
Kadyrov observed.
Indeed, in the mountain regions of Chechnya
where the gunmen are based, the situation is
really dire right now. The snow blocking the
passes and the constant avalanches practically
rule out any movement through the mountains.
In weather like this combat actions have always
come to a halt in past years too. As the end of
winter approaches the bandits have one aim - to
survive until spring so as to renew the terrorist
onslaught when the "greenery" reappears. So the
interview and the "truce" are simply for
Maskhadov's benefit from every aspect.
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian
8 Feb 05 p 2
Chechen rebel in call for peace talks as
ceasefire holds
From Jeremy Page in Moscow
Times-UK
February 08, 2005
ASLAN MASKHADOV, the Chechen rebel
leader, urged the Kremlin yesterday to begin
talks to end a decade of conflict as local officials
revealed that a ceasefire he ordered last week
had been effective.
The Kremlin and pro-Moscow Chechen officials
insisted, however, that they would not negotiate
with a man they consider to be a terrorist,
despite growing fears that the conflict is
spreading to other regions in the North Caucasus.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 38 ~
In an interview with Kommersant, the Russian
newspaper, Mr Maskhadov confirmed that he had
ordered a ceasefire until February 22 as a
“goodwill gesture” and said that he had
appointed a top aide to conduct peace talks with
Moscow. “If reason triumphs among our Kremlin
opponents, we can end this war at the
negotiating table,” he said. “If not, then most
likely blood will be spilt for a long time to come
— but we will not be morally responsible for the
continuation of this madness.”
Mr Maskhadov, who is believed to be hiding in
mountains in southern Chechnya, was elected
President of the breakaway republic after
Moscow sued for peace to end the first Chechen
War in 1996, but he was deposed when Vladimir
Putin sent troops back to Chechnya when he was
Prime Minister in 1999.
The Chechen rebel leader said that he had
chosen Umar Khambiyev, a former Health
Minister in his breakaway administration, who is
living in exile, to lead the peace effort.
A spokesman for President Putin said that the
Kremlin had not changed its policy of refusing to
negotiate with Chechen rebel leaders. Moscow
has dismissed reports of a ceasefire as a publicity
stunt.
Last week Shamil Basayev, the radical Chechen
rebel leader responsible for the Beslan school
siege last year, threatened to stage more such
attacks. The threat was given during an interview
broadcast on Channel 4, which has been
criticised by the Russian Government.
Ramzan Kadyrov, a former rebel who now
dominates Chechnya’s pro-Moscow
Government, dismissed Mr Maskhadov’s
initiative. “How can there be goodwill when
children, women and civilians have died in terror
attacks in Grozny, Beslan and Moscow?” he said.
“And if Maskhadov says he doesn’t control the
people behind the terrorism, what’s the point of
talks with someone with no real influence?”
In his interview, Mr Maskhadov admitted that Mr
Basayev was not under his formal command and
repeated that he did not condone his terrorist
tactics. Yet he said that Mr Basayev’s decision to
obey the ceasefire showed that he still had
strong influence over rebels.
Chechen rebels offer to hold talks with
Moscow
Chris Stephen, in Moscow
Irish Times; Feb 09, 2005
RUSSIA: Chechen rebels yesterday offered to
hold direct talks with Moscow, one week into
their self-declared ceasefire in the province.
The war-torn south Russian province is enjoying
a rare period of calm since rebel leader Aslan
Maskhadov declared the ceasefire last week.
Speaking through his rebel website, Maskhadov
said Russia now has a historic chance to end the
fighting: "If reason triumphs among our Kremlin
opponents, we can end this war at the
negotiating table."
He repeated calls for a ceasefire, backed by
international monitors, and is reportedly offering
to hand over his senior commander, Shamil
Basayev, the man blamed for last year's Beslan
school atrocity, to an international court.
Moscow made no response, and has yet to
comment on Maskhadov's ceasefire offer, having said in the past it does not negotiate with a man
it considers a terrorist.
But the pro-Moscow president of Chechnya, Mr
Alu Alkhanov, has called for Maskhadov, a former
provincial president, to surrender unconditionally
to Russian authorities.
The ceasefire has effectively stopped the five-
year-old war, since without attacks on Russian
targets there is little for Moscow's forces to do
but wait.
If the ceasefire holds, it is likely to put more
pressure on Moscow to enter into talks with the
rebels, a move long urged by the Council of
Europe and European Union.
But despite the current cessation of fighting,
peace remains a distant goal with both sides at
loggerheads over the future of the province.
Rebel leaders have long said they must have
independence, and Moscow has refused to
consider this option.
Russian newspapers are carrying reports from
unnamed officials indicating that Basayev has been
killed, either in a gun battle between rival factions
or, according to another version, from kidney
failure.
In answer to this, Chechen websites have
released a video statement from Basayev saying
he is alive and well and living in hiding.
Adding to the confusion, so-called Mujahadin
forces in the neighbouring province of Dagestan
have continued attacks, releasing their own
statement declaring that the ceasefire does not apply outside Chechen territory.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 39 ~
Maskhakov's reasoning for the ceasefire remains
unclear. Rebel forces remain in the field, and
there is no apparent weakness in their
capabilities.
Chechen militants ignore Maskhadov order
MOSCOW, February 9, 2005 (Itar-Tass) -
According to the information of the military
commandant’s office in Chechnya, the order of
Aslan Maskhadov, ex-leader of the “Ichkeria
regime,” on the termination of combat
operations is being ignored by the militants. The
number of shootings and acts of subversion is
not being reduced all over Chechnya.
“The intensity of shooting at the positions of the
federal troops was not reduced over the past
three days. Some 15 to 20 cases of shooting are
registered every day,” a representative of the military commandant’s office told Itar-Tass.
Lieutenant General Grigory Fomenko, military
commandant of the Chechen Republic, officially
confirmed that men of the illegal armed groups
continued to fire at areas of deployment and
positions of the federal troops and to stage acts
of terrorism against the civilian population of the
republic.
“The statement of Maskhadov, the leader of
Chechen extremists, on the termination of
combat operations in Chechnya, is of no
importance whatsoever for members of illegal
armed groups. Only one conclusion could be
drawn from it: Maskhadov does not control the
situation, and most gangs do not take orders
from him,” General Fomenko told Itar-Tass.
“It is high time Maskhadov realised that his time
in Chechnya is over, and that he is no longer his
own master. He fully depends on international
terrorism,” he added. In his opinion, the
statements of the leaders of Chechen extremists
about some “centralised control over the actions
of militants” do not hold water.
General Fomenko stressed that men of the
federal troops continued to stage special
operations in Chechnya, aimed at detecting and
destroying the militants, as well as at finding
home-made explosive devices laid by them.
Chechen separatist leader unable to
control rebels - Russian federal source
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
09, 2005
Chechen rebels are ignoring their leader Aslan
Maskhadov's decree on a cease-fire, ITAR-TASS reported on 9 February, quoting the Chechen
military commandant's office.
"The amount of gunfire and sabotage against the
military is not decreasing in Chechnya," an office
representative said. "During the last three days
the intensity of fire aimed at federal forces has
not been reduced, rebels are opening fire about
15-20 times a day," the representative added.
Members of illegal armed formations are
continuing to fire at the positions of federal
forces and committing terrorist attacks against
civilians, military commandant Lt-Gen Grigoriy
Fomenko said, officially confirming the
information.
"The statement made by Ichkerian extremist
leader Maskhadov is an empty phrase for the
rebels," Fomenko told ITAR-TASS. "There is only
one conclusion to be drawn from this.
Maskhadov does not control the situation in the republic, most of the armed groups do not obey
him."
"Maskhadov should have understood long ago
that his time in Chechnya is past and that he is
not his own man. He is fully dependant on
international terrorism," Fomenko said.
Statements made by extremists' leaders to the
effect that they exercise centralized control of
the rebels cannot be taken seriously, Fomenko
added.
Federal forces continue carrying out special
targeted activities aimed at looking for and
eliminating rebels, as well as finding home-made
explosive devices, Fomenko said.
In a separate report, in Russian, at 0747 gmt on 9
Feb 05, RIA news agency reported, quoting the
Regional operational HQ in charge of Russia's
counterterrorist operation in the North
Caucasus, that federal forces had prevented a
series of major terrorist attacks.
"Earlier law-enforcers received a tip-off that
rebels were preparing a series of terrorist
attacks on highways in Urus-Martanovskiy
District, aimed at civilians," a representative of
the HQ said.
As a result of operations aimed at checking the
tip-off, a hidden rebel cache was found at a
distance of 100 m from the road between Urus-
Martan and Alkhan-Yurt. The cache contained six
home-made explosive devices, made from large-
calibre shells, as well as 200-gram TNT blocks.
"The explosives amount to 11 kg of TNT," the
representative said.
Investigators are taking measures to find those
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 40 ~
involved in preparations for the attacks.
Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in
English 0725 gmt 9 Feb 05
CHECHEN REBELS HAND THE ANTI-
WAR MOVEMENT AN OLIVE BRANCH
AS THE KREMLIN TIGHTENS THE
SCREWS
By Andrei Smirnov
The Jamestown Foundation
CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on
the Crisis in Chechnya
9 February 2005 - Volume VI, Issue 6
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov's
ceasefire order has forced the Russian authorities
to change their information policy. Almost
immediately after the news of the ceasefire order
was made public, security officials who usually
insist that there has been no war in Chechnya for a long time started telling the press a new story.
Vladimir Bulgakov, the Russian Ground Troops
Deputy Commander, told Gazeta.ru on February
3 that the rebels "ambush our columns and
attack our checkpoints almost every day."
Meanwhile, Maskhadov's London-based envoy,
Ahmed Zakaev, said that another objective of the
ceasefire order was to give an olive branch to
anti-war forces in Russia. Since the start of the
second Chechen war, rebels have been trying to
find partners in Russia with whom they could
cooperate in search for a peaceful solution of the
conflict. In 1999-2000, Maskhadov tried to use
Georgian Chechens (Kistins) working in his staff
to establish ties with Russian politicians with a
Georgian background. However, both Yevgeny
Primakov, who was born in the Georgian capital
of Tbilisi and was one of the most influent
Russian political leaders of that time, and Igor
Ivanov, the former foreign minister and current
Security Council secretary who was born in
Pankisi Gorge, refused to have anything to do
with Maskhadov's envoys. Ivan Rybkin, the leader
of the so-called "Party of Peace" during the first
Chechen war, was ready to help but had by that
time almost completely lost his influence.
Having failed with politicians, Maskhadov's people
tried to get in touch with the business
community. However, an aide to Anatoly
Chubais, head of the Russian state-owned power
grid, Unified Energy Systems (UES), also refused
to deal with the Chechens (see Grani.ru, August
16, 2001).
Getting no response from the Russian elite, the
rebels began to appeal to the Russian public. The
Kavkazcenter website started publishing articles
by Russian journalists who sympathized with the rebels' struggle for independence, while Akhmed
Zakaev, Umar Khambiev and other separatist
emissaries met in Europe with some independent
Russian journalists and NGO leaders like Anna
Politkovskaya and Andrei Mironov. Finally, in late
2004, the Soldier's Mothers Committee agreed
to talk to Zakaev in Belgium. Belgian authorities,
however, refused to give visas to the committee's
representatives, and would not give Ahmed
Zakaev permission to enter the country. It was
clear that the government of Belgium had nothing
against these peace talks but was forced to stop
them under strong pressure from the Kremlin.
While the Chechens are desperately looking for
somebody in Russia with whom they could talk
about peace, Russian authorities are doing
exactly the opposite – blocking all peace
initiatives coming from the public. Occasionally,
President Vladimir Putin threatens human rights
and anti-war activists, branding all those who are
in favor of talks with Maskhadov "terrorist accessories." But Russian authorities fully practice
what they preach, suppressing Chechen NGOs
and quelling protests against the war. Last year,
Fatima Gazieva, a member of The Echo of War, a
Chechen peace-building organization, was
detained by Chechen police and Federal Security
Service (FSB) officers in Chechnya under the
pretext that she was allegedly recruiting women
to become suicide bombers (see Prague
Watchdog, September 3, 2004). After massive
protests from the international human-rights
community, security agencies were forced to
release her. At the same time, in Ingushetia, the
local prosecutor's office accused the Chechnya
Committee of National Salvation of organizing
"propaganda of extremism" by disseminating
press-releases on human rights violations in
Chechnya (see Civitas.ru, October 25, 2004).
Libhan Bazaeva, a leader of the Ingushetian
branch of the Memorial human rights center, had
to leave Russia for Germany after receiving
several threats from the FSB. Imran Ezhiev, a
leader of the Russian-Chechen Friendship
Society, also left Russia after several arrests,
kidnappings and assassination attempts.
However, the repression is not confined only to
the North Caucasus region. Last February 23,
Moscow authorities banned a rally against the
war in Chechnya on Lubyanka Square. The site of
the rally was surrounded by special police
officers, and two leaders of the protest, Oleg
Khramov and Lev Ponomarev, were detained.
The authorities also banned an anti-war picket on
March 11, 2004. Those who took part in the
picket were arrested that day.
Activists of peace-building organizations, who are
traditionally more cautious and usually do not
sharply criticize the Kremlin's policy toward Chechnya, have had problems in their work as
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 41 ~
well. Last March, the Russian Embassy in London
refused to grant a Russian visa to Lord Judd, the
former rapporteur of the European Parliament
on Chechnya. The Yalta Initiative for Peace in
Chechnya, a coalition of peace-building
organizations, had invited him to visit Moscow.
He was to award peace prizes for peace-building
activities in the North Caucasus.
The year 2005 started with much harsher
measures against some activists of the anti-war
movement. The Nizhny Novgorod regional
prosecutor's office launched a criminal case
against a newspaper published by the Russian
Chechen Friendship Society under Article 280 of
the Russian Criminal Code, which prohibits "calls
for forcible change of the Russian Federation's
constitutional system." The FSB questioned
Stanislav Dmitrievsky, chief editor of the Russian-
Chechen Friendship Society's Information
Center, about two appeals by Aslan Maskhadov and Ahmed Zakaev that had been published in
the newspaper (see Chechnya Weekly, January
26). The FSB also questioned everyone who
works in or used to work in the organization.
Furthermore, officers confiscated the list of
Society members working in Chechnya as
correspondents for its Information Center (see
RCFS, press-release # 1133, February 3).
On January 20, police in Moscow detained Pavel
Luzakov, the editor-in-chief of a semi-
underground newspaper called Svobodnoe slovo.
Luzakov is famous for his article published on the
Kavkazcenter website in which he called the
Russian troops fighting in Chechnya "occupiers"
and accused Vladimir Putin of "genocide of the
Chechen nation" (see Prima-news.ru, January 21).
The Russian government's pressure on the anti-
war movement shows that the Kremlin is not
interested in a real peace process. Human rights
activists and peace-builders can only rely on the
support of the Russian public and the opposite
side in the conflict. Commenting on the interview
with Aslan Maskhadov published in Kommersant
on February 7, Lev Ponomarev, a leader of the
Russian human rights community, said "one could
expect that Vladimir Putin would not pay any
attention to the words of Maskhadov, but our
task is to find a form of public support in Russia
for Maskhadov's statement" (See Newsru.com,
February 7). Anti-war activists believe that public
support of the rebels' initiative would strengthen
the position of those people around Putin who
believe that it is time to end the Chechen war.
One can only guess who those people are, but
some analysts, like Aleksei Malashenko of the
Carnegie Center, believe they do exist.
Dagestan poised to become major guerilla battlefield this summer
Jamestown Foundation
Eurasia Daily Monitor
Wednesday, February 9, 2005 -- Volume 2, Issue
28
MASKHADOV'S CEASEFIRE OBEYED IN
CHECHNYA, NOT IN DAGESTAN
On January 15, the Chechen rebel leader Aslan
Maskhadov issued a special order to stop all
military operations both inside and outside
Chechnya until the end of February (EDM,
February 4; Caucasus Times, February 4).
According to an officer at the commandant's
headquarters in Chechnya, there have been no
reports of assaults or bombings against federal
forces thus far. "The militants seem to have taken
a break," he noted (Caucasus Times, February 4).
Radio Liberty and Reuters also have reported
that the military situation in the Chechnya
became unexpectedly calm at the beginning of February. A February 6 press release by the
Command of the Federal Troops in Chechnya
commented, "For the last 24 hours the situation
was comparatively quiet (newsru.com, February
6).
However, the Russian military command distrusts
Maskhadov's "goodwill gesture." An unnamed
officer from the Russian Ministry of Defense
called Maskhadov's peace initiative "wolf tricks."
He continued, "They [the rebels] talk about
peace, and at the same time use the pause to
regroup their forces" (Gazeta, February 7). The
federal command seems rather frightened by
Maskhadov's order. The Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society reported that, on February 4,
a convoy of 207 military vehicles and armored
personnel carriers entered Chechnya from
neighboring Ingushetia (RCFS Press Release No.
1140, February 6).
In his latest interview with Kommersant,
Maskhadov bluntly answered a question about
what he and his comrades would do if the
Kremlin continues to reject peace talks. He
explained that Chechen winters typically end in
February, and traditionally the rebels become
more active when spring arrives (Kommersant,
February 7). Thus, Maskhadov has given Russian
President Vladimir Putin an ultimatum: either
stop the war or prepare for trouble in the North
Caucasus this summer.
According to Jamestown Foundation sources in
Moscow, Dmitry Kozak, Putin's envoy to the
Southern Federal District, has submitted a report
on the outlook for the North Caucasus in 2005.
The report says that the coming summer
campaign will be even more difficult than in 2004,
which included a raid on Ingushetia in June and an attack on Grozny on August 23.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 42 ~
However, the rebels did not stop all their
military operations, possibly to make the Russian
authorities more cooperative. On February 4,
the group of Dagestan militants known as Sharia
Jamaat issued a statement saying that the rebels
were waiting for Maskhadov to issue a special
ceasefire order regarding Dagestan. Sharia Jamaat
noted that Maskhadov's order only mentioned
Chechnya and Russia, and, since the Dagestan
insurgents do not recognize Dagestan as part of
the Russian Federation, they would continue to
fight (Kavkazcenter.com, February 4).
The separatists appear to believe that the only
way they can force the Kremlin to the
negotiating table is by turning the largest
Caucasus republic into another war zone. Sharia
Jamaat is accumulating good success rates with
guerilla warfare and sees no reason for its
members to lay down arms. Despite the fact that federal troops and local police taskforces
managed to destroy rebel cells in the cities of
Makhachkala and Kaspiisk (see EDM, January 19),
the attacks are now focused on Makhachkala, the
capital of Dagestan.
The insurgents are using increasingly creative
urban warfare tactics. On January 31, police
received an anonymous tip about armed persons
hiding in an apartment building in Makhachkala.
When the police came to investigate, they were
blown up by a booby trap installed at the
building's entrance (RIA-Novosti, January 31). In
Makhachkala on February 2, militants ambushed a
motorcade for Magomed Omarov, Dagestan's
deputy interior minister, killing him in the shoot-
out. According to Vremya novostei, Omarov had
coordinated all major anti-insurgent operations in
the republic. Omarov usually traveled in an
armored Mercedes, but this day he was in an
ordinary car because his Mercedes was being
repaired. This convenient timing suggests that the
insurgents might have high-placed agents inside
the local police (Vremya novostei, February 4).
Two days later, militants bombed the police K9
training center, killing several dogs in the
explosion (newsru.com, January 31).
Also on February 2, rebels bombed the car of
Alisultan Alkhamatov, the acting head of the
administration of Khasavurt region. Unlike
Omarov, Alkhamatov was in an armored car and
managed to survive (RIA-Novosti, February 2).
Faced with the strengthening insurgency,
Dagestan security officials again launched large-
scale anti-terrorist sweeps. On February 5, police
special-task force units -- backed by the 102th
Military Brigade -- started to comb the mountain
area near Makhachkala where the rebels usually hide. According to Yufo news, the federal troops
were poorly prepared and the operation failed
completely. Russian soldiers from the brigade
were not familiar with the terrain and became
lost in the mountains. The operation was also
badly coordinated. The reconnaissance group
stepped on a mine, giving away their position to
rebels hiding nearby (yufo.ru, February 7). One
policeman was killed, and one soldier and
another policeman were wounded.
On February 6, the militants issued a statement
accusing hunters of providing information to
security officials about the location of the rebel
bases. The statement warned locals against
hunting in the mountains, saying that all of them
would be regarded as spies and detained
(kavkazcenter.com, February 6).
There are no doubts that the insurgents will
continue to expand their activities. They
currently form small guerrilla groups in Khasavurt region and then travel to Makhachkala
(Rossiiskaya gazeta, June 24, 2004). Dagestan may
well become the main North Caucasus battlefield
between Russian troops and rebels this summer.
--Andrei Smirnov
Russian pundit says Chechen truce call
masks plans for further violence
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
09, 2005
Text of report by Andrey Riskin in the Russian
newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 9 February
The Chechen leadership does not intend to hold
talks with Ichkeria President Aslan Maskhadov.
Instead of this the republic's president, Alu
Alkhanov, and Chechen First Deputy Prime
Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, have, according to a
statement they disseminated yesterday, told
Maskhadov to give himself up. "There can be no
question of any talks with people who are
implicated in bloody crimes against society,"
Alkhanov declared. "Maskhadov can give himself
up tomorrow," Kadyrov stressed.
When announcing the February truce and his
readiness to sit down at the negotiating table,
however, Aslan Maskhadov was addressing not
Chechnya's current leaders but "Russia's
leadership and the world community". Moscow
has made no reaction to this "goodwill gesture"
as Maskhadov claims. The only reaction from
federal structures has been a statement from a
"high-ranking military man" at the Joint Troop
Grouping headquarters in Khankala, who claims
that the gunmen "are operating as before". As
proof he cites an incident in which a fortified
checkpoint on the Kavkaz highway was fired on by a passing Niva car on Monday evening [7
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 43 ~
February]. One policeman died as a result and
four were wounded.
As usual, the attackers escaped. It is not known
who the criminals were - Maskhadov's people,
Basayev's people or a gang under nobody's
command. "This shooting incident proves yet
again that Maskhadov is not in control of the
situation," Nezavisimaya Gazeta was told by
Merkator group head Dmitriy Oreshkin. "Having
said that, we cannot rule out the possibility that
the checkpoint was shot up by Ramzan Kadyrov's
people in order to show everybody that
Maskhadov is not in control of the situation."
The harsh reaction from Chechnya's leaders to
Maskhadov's recent moves, including his promise
to hand over Shamil Basayev to an international
tribunal, is entirely understandable. For almost
six years the federal centre has actively pursued a
policy of squeezing Maskhadov out of the legitimate realm and creating a new Chechen
elite. This new elite absolutely does not want a
negotiating process between the separatist
leaders and Moscow. Because in that case
Maskhadov (let us leave aside the odious Basayev,
dead one moment dead, resurrected the next)
would be legitimized and the "newly appointed"
Chechen elite would be out of a job.
As a man with great political experience,
Maskhadov is presumably perfectly well aware
that there will be no reaction from the federal
centre to his call for talks. Especially as this is by
no means the first such initiative. Therefore,
sadly, we must accept the forecast of the military,
who stated yesterday that "from the military
viewpoint Maskhadov's statement gives the
gunmen an opportunity to replenish their food
stocks, 'lick their wounds,' warm themselves up
and go back to committing terrorist acts."
Indeed, if there is no real chance of securing a
"second Khasavyurt" [the 1996 agreement that
brought an end to the first Chechen conflict]
people speak of a truce when they need a
respite. On the other hand, statements like that
issued by the Ichkeria president are made when
serious combat action to end this truce is in
preparation.
"Presumably once this call has been ignored by
the federal centre, there will be another
powerful blow to the prestige of the Russian
authorities," Dmitriy Oreshkin believes. "The
logic is clear: We invited you to the negotiating
table, you refused, so this is what you get. It is a
serious warning. And a serious threat. Practice
shows that the separatist leaders keep their
word, unfortunately."
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, in
Russian 9 Feb 05 p 4
The Application of the President of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria Aslan
Mashadov to the Management of Russia
and the World Community
Kavkaz-Center
2005-02-10 00:14:09
According to my order the Military Forces of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria since February, 1,
2005, unilaterally stopped all kinds of operations
of offensive character in the territories of the
Chechen Republic and the Russian Federation for
one month.
This humane step from the Chechen side is
dictated only by one desire: to prevent the real
threat not only to our people, but also all
peoples of Russia and Caucasus , the reason of which is the bloody war in the Chechen Republic
proceeding for the sixth year, which long ago left
the boarders designated by the Kremlin. Those
complicated, deep processes taking place today in
the ancient Caucasus and inevitably leading this
unique region to a catastrophe in greater scales
are already obvious.
In such a complex military-political situation
when the Russo-Chechen war becomes a
detonator of uncontrollable, pernicious
processes with unpredictable consequences for
all peoples of the Caucasus and Russia, I have
considered it to be my human debt to undertake
the maximum of efforts to prevent the future
chaos and to call the Russian party to stop this
war at the table of negotiations.
Showing adherence to peace, the management of
the Chechen Republic Ichkeria once again appeals
to the management of the Russian Federation
and declares:
"It is enough bloodshed! We, Chechens, are
open for real political dialogue with the Kremlin
without preconditions".
Confirming the adherence to civilized methods of
the solving of disputable political problems
between the Russian Federation and the
Chechen Republic , the management of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria appeals also to the
world community and declares:
"The President and the Government of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria, the Armed forces of
the Chechen state are ready to show the will to
the peace and call the United Nations, EU, CE
and the governments of the democratic countries
of Europe and the USA to change the pose of supernumeraries and to join the plan, offered by
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 44 ~
us on the peace settlement of military-political
crisis between Russia and Ichkeria more actively".
Aslan MASHADOV,
The president of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria,
The Supreme Commander- in-Chief of the
Military Forces of the CRI
Russian human rights activists urge Putin
to talk to Chechen "moderates"
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
10, 2005
Text of report by Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on
10 February
[Presenter] Human rights activists have sent an
open letter to President Vladimir Putin. The
authors urge Putin to begin talks with the
moderate wing of the Chechen separatists. Here
is Nadezhda Pravdina with the details:
[Correspondent] Mr President, peace talks with
the moderate wing of the fighters are virtually
the only way of preventing Chechnya from
turning into another front in the clash between
Islamic radicalism and the Western civilization.
An opportunity may now have arisen to save
many thousands of lives, the human rights
activists write. They ask President Putin to
respond to the cease-fire announced by
[separatist leader] Aslan Maskhadov, and to begin
talks with Maskhadov on a political peace
settlement. If the Russian authorities disregard
Aslan Maskhadov's call, considering it to be a
trap, radical groups of fighters will come to
replace the moderate wing of separatists, the
human rights activists think. The open letter to
President Putin was signed by the head of the
Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseyeva,
and by representatives of the Human Rights
Movement and the Memorial human rights
centre.
[Presenter] May I remind you that you can read
the text of the letter in today's edition of the
Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian
0900 gmt 10 Feb 05
CAN WE BELIEVE MASKHADOV'S
INITIATIVES?
2005-02-10 18:18
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator
Vladimir Simonov.) - Aslan Makhadov, ex-
president of the self-proclaimed Chechen
republic of Ichkeria, declares a unilateral ceasefire
and even appoints an envoy for urgent talks with
the Kremlin. Shamil Basayev, the most bloodthirsty of the Chechen warlords, appears
on British television and on the Internet,
promising new Beslans and at the same time
announcing his willingness to observe the
ceasefire. Boris Berezovsky, whom London helps
to escape Russian justice, announces that
Chechen militants have acquired a portable
nuclear bomb. They all made their statements at
almost the same time. Coincidence or
coordinated campaign?
The Kremlin does not believe that Mr.
Maskhadov is sincere about his peace initiative.
Neither do Russians, because even if the
ceasefire were ordered, militants have been
ignoring it. Terrorist attacks in Chechnya and
neighboring Dagestan continue. This once again
proves that Mr. Maskhadov has lost his influence
on local warlords.
There was most likely no order. Hostilities in
Chechnya are impossible at this time of the year, as mountain paths are snowed under and it is
impossible to deliver ammunition and food.
Militant camps are easily spotted against the
snow from helicopters. So February is a
traditional "vacation period" for terrorists.
It is during this period of reluctant inactivity that
Messrs. Maskhadov, Basayev and Berezovsky,
who supports them, have launched their peaceful
PR campaign.
The idea of a truce has been raised before. Mr.
Maskhadov comes up with it every time the
West seems more inclined to support the
Kremlin in its fight against Chechen terrorism. So
Mr. Maskhadov's proffered hand to the Kremlin
is a theatrical gesture meant to impress the
West, but certainly not the Kremlin. It is a trap
for Moscow. Should the Kremlin agree to talks
with the Chechen terrorists who masterminded
the atrocities in Beslan, Moscow and other cities,
it will display weakness and may lose the support
of its allies in the Caucasus.
The bluff with the ceasefire has come in the run-
up to Vladimir Putin's Bratislava meeting with
George Bush later this month. This suggests that
although Mr. Bush will certainly not ask Mr. Putin
what he thinks about Mr. Maskhadov's proposal,
the two leaders will most probably discuss the
outlook for Russia's fight against terrorists in the
Caucasus. And do not forget about Mr.
Berezovsky with his news that the militants
possess nuclear weapons. This cannot but be
taken up at the summit. The exiled tycoon claims
that "reliable sources" have told him that they
are able to start hostilities all over Russia, but
"now not with a mountaineer's dagger, but by
attacking nuclear power plants and strategic
facilities."
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 45 ~
The Russian Foreign Ministry has flatly rejected
the idea that the militants may have gone nuclear,
warning that such sensations are designed to
spread a sense of vulnerability and nervousness in
Russia.
Russian experts have not taken the news
seriously either. "I believe this statement is utter
rubbish," Major General Valery Dvorkin, a senior
fellow of the International Security Center of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, told Ekho Moskvy
radio. He said that a "nuclear case" needs
numerous ciphers and codes to work, and the
Chechen militants do not have them. "Even if
they do have the device it will be almost
impossible to make it work and detonate a
nuclear explosion," he concluded. Vladimir
Yevseyev, a coordinator of the non-proliferation
program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, agreed
with him, saying that mini bombs from the late
1980s had a limited service life that would have already expired, which means they would have to
be built again. "Chechen separatists to not have a
portable nuclear device," he maintains. "These
nuclear bombs are no longer produced, both
Russia and the US have rejected them."
Calm before the Chechen storm?
Rebels urge Russia to peace talks before Feb. 22
cease-fire deadline
By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian
Science Monitor
from the February 11, 2005 edition
MOSCOW – A surprise unilateral cease-fire
ordered by two top Chechen rebel commanders
has Moscow abuzz with debate. Experts are
asking, is it a genuine chance for peace, a PR
stunt, or an artificial lull before a fresh storm of
Beslan-style terrorist assaults?
Few see much hope of ending the Chechen war,
now well into its sixth year, unless there is a
political breakthrough that sees the Kremlin, the
separatist rebels, and pro-Moscow Chechen
forces sit down together to seek a settlement.
President Vladimir Putin appears determined to
stay his chosen course, which involves signing a
treaty with the Kremlin's handpicked Chechen
leader Alu Alkhanov - perhaps as early as this
May - that will lock Chechnya into Russian
permanently. But amid reports that the rebels
could have acquired a nuclear device or
radiological weapons, many experts see only an
escalating cycle of violence in the offing.
"The situation in Chechnya is currently at a dead
end," says Alexander Iskanderyan, director of the
independent Center for Caucasian Studies, in
Yerevan, Armenia. "The key to its solution is in the Kremlin, but I see little hope of change
there."
Aslan Maskhadov, Chechnya's rebel president-in-
hiding, called attention this week to the self-
imposed cease-fire, which had been announced
last month on a rebel website but went largely
unnoticed. He portrayed the move as an olive
branch to get peace negotiations started, and
urged Russian leaders to take up the offer to talk
before the cease-fire expires on Feb. 22.
"If our Kremlin opponents are reasonable, this
war will end at the negotiating table," he told the
Moscow daily Kommersant, in a rare interview
published Monday. "If not, blood will continue to
be spilled for a long time but we will reject any
moral responsibility for this continued madness."
The cease-fire was endorsed by Shamil Basayev,
the notorious Chechen field commander who
has claimed responsibility for many terror strikes against Russia, including the 2002 seizure of 800
hostages in a Moscow theater and last
September's school siege in Beslan that left 331
people dead, half of them children. In an
interview broadcast by Britain's Channel 4 News
this month, Mr. Basayev declared: "We are
planning more Beslan-type operations in future
because we are forced to do so."
That threat gained ominous traction this week
when self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris
Berezovsky said a "Chechen businessman" had
once offered to sell him a miniature nuclear
weapon stolen from former Soviet stockpiles. "It
is a portable nuclear bomb," Mr. Berezovsky said.
"Some part of it is missing at the moment, but
these are small details."
Russia's Foreign Ministry quickly denied that,
saying that all Soviet-made "suitcase bombs" are
accounted for. But independent experts say
Chechen militants may well have the means to
produce a "dirty bomb," with deadly radioactive
materials wrapped around conventional
explosives. "They probably don't have a real
nuclear weapon, but we know they have had
access to radioactive substances in the past," says
Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based security
expert. "This threat is very real. A dirty bomb
could make part of a Russian city uninhabitable
for 100 years. We may expect anything after the
cease-fire ends."
Though the Kremlin has not responded to Mr.
Maskhadov's peace overture, pro-Moscow
Chechen leader Mr. Alkhanov said the only issue
he is willing to discuss with rebel leaders is their
surrender. "Negotiations with those who have
engaged in bloody crimes against society are
absolutely out of the question," he said. "The only real salvation for such people is to give
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 46 ~
themselves up and confess their crimes."
There is doubt about whether the cease-fire,
which was to take effect Feb. 1, is holding.
Russia's official ITAR-Tass agency, which usually
reports peace and order prevailing in Chechnya,
quoted Russian commanders Thursday saying
there have been up to 20 rebel attacks each day
this week.
Some experts say that Maskhadov, elected in
Chechnya's only internationally recognized polls
in 1997, no longer controls rebel forces and is a
fading force. "Maskhadov is just one of the
leaders of the Chechen resistance, and not even
the strongest," says Mr. Iskanderyan. "[The
cease-fire] may be just an attempt to show he's
still relevant."
But 17 prominent Russian human rights activists
issued a statement Wednesday warning that Chechnya was turning into an "eternal conflict"
and urging the Kremlin to take up the offer for
negotiations as "practically the only way of
stopping Chechnya's transformation into yet
another front in the confrontation between
radical Islam and Western civilization."
The pro-Moscow Chechen government insists
that reconstruction of the war-torn republic has
made great strides, though there is little
independent information. At a Moscow press
conference this week, Alkhanov said the treaty
being drafted will settle the conflict by granting
Chechnya some economic autonomy "within the
federal constitution."
But according to Malik Saidulayev, a Moscow-
based businessman and Chechen community
leader, there is no security, order, or prospect
for peace in Chechnya.
The Kremlin's "policy of Chechenization of the
conflict has failed and the situation in the republic
has grown much worse," he says. "The war is not
ending, it is spreading to the rest of the Caucasus
region."
Activists want Chechen peace talks while
Putin wants "objectivity"
Jamestown Foundation
Eurasia Daily Monitor
Friday, February 11, 2005 -- Volume 2, Issue 30
RIGHTS GROUPS ASK PUTIN TO TALK TO
"MODERATE" REBELS
A group of leading human rights activists,
including Soviet-era dissidents Lyudmila
Alexeyeva, Sergei Kovalev, and Father Gleb
Yakunin, have sent an open letter to Russian
President Vladimir Putin calling on him to accept Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov's call
for peace talks.
"For more than ten years -- with a three year,
very conditional break, Russia is in fact in a state
of war in Chechnya," read the letter, which was
published by Novaya gazeta and the Grani.ru
website, among other outlets, on February 9. "A
war severe and terrible, with tens of thousands
killed, hundreds of thousands maimed, with
destroyed cities and industry. In these days a new
opportunity for a way out of this bitter war has
appeared -- the political leader of the Chechen
resistance, Aslan Maskhadov, not only ordered a
unilateral ceasefire, but also denounced the
actions of [rebel warlord Shamil] Basaev,
recognizing him as deserving of an international
tribunal, and thereby in a pointed way
dissociating himself not only from him, but from
the whole radical wing of the [separatist] fighters.
This historic opportunity should in no way be
missed."
The letter's signatories warned that if the war
continues, the role of Islamic radicals among the
Chechen separatists would continue to grow, as
will the "radicalization of the civilian population."
"The radicals are absolutely not interested in a
peaceful settlement, even if it is on the most
advantageous terms for the secular wing of the
separatists," they wrote. "At the same time, the
role of ultra-nationalists in Russian politics, who
are prepared to use the Chechen conflict and
terror for fascization of the country, will grow
even faster. The conclusion from this is clear: the
earlier an intelligible political dialogue between
the Russian authorities and the moderate wing of
the Chechen resistance begins, the greater the
chance for a peaceful settlement in principle."
Negotiating with the moderates in the resistance
is practically the only way "to prevent Chechnya
from turning into another front in the
confrontation between Islamist radicalism and
Western civilization." The letter concludes, "Mr.
President, we call on you as commander-in-chief,
guarantor of the constitutional rights of Russian
citizens, and, above all, [guarantor] of the right to
life, to give the order for a ceasefire in Chechnya
and to organize a delegation for the start of
negotiations with Maskhadov about a peaceful
political settlement."
The open letter was also signed by Novaya
gazeta correspondent Anna Politkovskaya, Lev
Ponomarev and Yuli Rybakov of the For Human
Rights movement, Oleg Orlov of the Memorial
human rights center, and Yuri Samodurov of the
Andrei Sakharov Museum, among others.
Meanwhile, on February 10 President Putin met
in the Kremlin with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour. "We will listen with respect and react to an
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 47 ~
objective analysis of the issue, to every objective
remark," Interfax quoted him as saying at the
meeting. "The only thing unacceptable for us is
the use of human rights issues for economic or
political purposes."
Arbour also met with Russian human rights
ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, Russia's former
ambassador to Washington. Briefing reporters
about the president's meeting with Arbour, Lukin
said, "Violations of human rights concern us no
less that our foreign partners," Itar-Tass reported
on February 10. Lukin added, "Those who equate
terrorists and our armed forces are not right,"
but, he conceded, "There is no justification for
people with shoulder straps who violate human
rights, and this happens from time to time."
Utro.ru said that Lukin demonstrated "brilliant
diplomatic preparation" in his comments. "Briefly
mentioning that the president, on his own
initiative, touched on the extremely painful issue of Chechnya, he [Lukin] preferred to switch to
violations of the rights of national minorities in
the Baltic countries and to the subject of how
the results of the election in Iraq have still not
been announced," the website wrote on February
10.
But while Arbour's meetings scheduled for today
[February 11] are also Kremlin-friendly -- she is
set to meet with, among others, Federation
Council Chairman Sergei Mironov and State
Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman
Konstantin Kosachev -- she also plans to meet
with a group of human rights activists at the
offices of the Memorial human rights center on
February 12. "I will personally speak [to her]
about how the human rights situation has
catastrophically worsened recently," Lev
Ponomarev told Utro.ru. "The main issue for
Russia today, the ulcer that is eating away at and
influencing the situation around the whole
country is, of course, the war in Chechnya,
where the right of the individual to life is being
violated in a cruel way, where the kidnapping of
people continues."
Ponomarev said he would also bring up "the
attack on social rights" exemplified in the
monetization of benefits and the reappearance of
political prisoners. "The siloviki who have come
to power in the country have begun battling the
opposition in a crude way and are fabricating
criminal cases against political opponents, the
leaders of civic organizations," he said. "But the
most dangerous thing is that the authorities have
moved to massive repression, which sooner or
later happens in any police state." Ponomarev
pointed to the events in Blagovashchensk,
Bashkortostan, at the end of last December,
when riot police reportedly carried out a "crime prevention operation" in which hundreds of men
and teenage boys were detained and beaten up,
and scores of girls raped (MosNews, January 21).
--Charles Gurin
IS IT TOO LATE FOR PEACE TALKS IN
CHECHNYA?
RFE/RL Caucasus Report
Vol. 8, No. 6, 11 February 2005
IS IT TOO LATE FOR PEACE TALKS IN
CHECHNYA? On 3 February, the Chechen
resistance website chechenpress.com posted a
statement by President Aslan Maskhadov's envoy
Umar Khambiev announcing that Maskhadov
issued instructions to his forces on 14 January to
observe a unilateral cease-fire until the end of
February. According to Khambiev, that command
was intended as a goodwill gesture that could
pave the way for unconditional talks aimed at
ending more than five years of fighting.
Four days later, on 7 February, "Kommersant-
Daily" published an interview with Maskhadov in
which he repeated his call for negotiations. Also
on 7 February, chechenpress.info posted a
statement by Maskhadov in which he called on
the United Nations, the European Union, and the
Council of Europe to play a more active role in
mediating a settlement of the Chechen conflict.
But Russian officials have not responded to that
initiative, while senior members of the pro-
Moscow Chechen leadership have argued that
Maskhadov does not qualify as a negotiating
partner as he no longer has any authority among
the resistance. Moreover, they allege, Maskhadov
bears responsibility, together with radical field
commander Shamil Basaev, for a string of
terrorist acts against Russian civilians, including
the Beslan hostage taking in September 2004.
Moscow, too, earlier discounted the possibility of
talks with Maskhadov on the pretext of his
alleged involvement in terrorist acts against
Russian civilians. In mid-September, in the wake
of the Beslan hostage crisis, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov compared calls for
Moscow to embark on negotiations with
Maskhadov with the suggestion that Europe
should conduct such talks with Osama bin Laden.
(This despite Maskhadov's repeated insistence
both before and after Beslan that his men strictly
observe the Geneva Conventions and desist both
from attacks on Russian civilians and on Russian
military targets outside Chechnya.)
This is by no means Maskhadov's first attempt to
offer the Russian leadership a face-saving way out
of a conflict that has since 1999 claimed the lives
of thousands of Russian servicemen and sapped the national budget. In an earlier interview with
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 48 ~
"Kommersant-Daily" in April 2000, weeks after
the fall of Grozny, Maskhadov similarly declared a
unilateral cease-fire and called for peace talks and
the dispatch to Chechnya of a fact-finding mission
from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Russian military
officials wrote off that offer as an indirect
admission of defeat, claiming that Maskhadov's
men did not have the weaponry to continue
resistance, according to Interfax on 21 April
2000, while then acting Russian President
Vladimir Putin's aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii said
Maskhadov had not responded to unspecified
counterproposals (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21
April 2000).
Maskhadov issued three further calls in 2000 for
unconditional peace talks: in an interview in July
with an Azerbaijani news agency, in a second
interview with "Kommersant-Daily" (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 25 September 2000), and in an interview with "Moscow News" in November.
Yastrzhembskii rejected the latter offer, saying it
contained "nothing new" and that it was due to
Maskhadov's "inactivity" that Chechnya had
degenerated into "an enclave of terrorism and
Wahhabism" and a permanent threat to Russia's
security (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 November
2000).
Maskhadov broadcast calls for unconditional
peace talks on a clandestine radio station in
January 2001, and on the official Chechen
television channel three months later. Then in
June 2002, on the eve of the Group of Eight (G-
8) summit in Canada, he sent an open letter to
the participants, calling for a cease-fire in
Chechnya and asking for their assistance in
resuming contacts between his envoy, Akhmed
Zakaev, and then presidential envoy to the
Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev. That
initiative coincided with an appeal to Russian
President Vladimir Putin by former Russian
Security Council Secretary Ivan Rybkin (see
"RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 13 September 2002).
Both Rybkin and former Russian Supreme Soviet
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov met with Zakaev
during the summer of 2002 to discuss various
blueprints for resolving the Chechen conflict (see
"RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 29 September 2002).
But Maskhadov subsequently announced that he
was again coordinating resistance activities with
radical field commander Shamil Basaev, who
publicly claimed responsibility for the hostage
taking in a Moscow theater in October 2002.
That incident furnished the Russian authorities
with a cast-iron excuse to brand Maskhadov a
terrorist, and demolished his credibility with the
United States. The "Los Angeles Times" on 31
October 2002 quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying Maskhadov has "forfeited any legitimacy he
had.... He's either unwilling to stand up to
terrorists or incapable of it."
In the wake of the Moscow hostage taking,
Maskhadov switched tactics and began calling not
for direct talks with Moscow but for the
international community to pressure the Russian
authorities to agree to such talks. He told
RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service in May 2003
that "it has become obvious today that it is
impossible to seek peace directly with the
Russian leadership," because those leaders rose
to power thanks to the war in Chechnya. He
said: "The Russian authorities that have brought
so much violence to the Chechen people could
not end this war peacefully, even if they wanted
to." He said the only way to bring the fighting to
an end is through the United Nations, the OSCE,
the Council of Europe, and other organizations
that protect human rights. Maskhadov reiterated
in that interview that "I have never given orders to blow up buildings or to kill innocent people. I
have even given orders to my mujahedin...to be
careful not to kill Chechens, not to carry out
terrorist attacks that could hurt innocent people"
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 May 2003).
One year later, in early June 2004, Maskhadov
appeared to have abandoned any hope of peace
talks, telling RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service:
"We tried to approach the Russian government
with our [peace] proposal several times. We told
them, 'Let's stop this war ourselves without
involving anyone into this process.'" Maskhadov
vowed that "we will not stop our struggle, and
we will not back off as long as the enemy
tramples our soil. We'll keep fighting until he
leaves our country. We won't accept anything
short of this." But at the same time, Maskhadov
made clear that he does not seek independence
for Chechnya, but would accept a peace
settlement that would preserve Russia's
territorial integrity. He said: "We are prepared
to do whatever [the Russian leadership] want us
to do, whatever they find advantageous. We can
jointly manage our economy, defenses. We can
jointly guard our borders. We can create a
common currency and conduct our diplomatic
affairs together. We can think of common
investment programs. We are prepared to sign
agreements on collective security and join the
fight against terrorism. That is what we are telling
the Russians. But they don't want that.... In this
situation, we are compelled to seek friends
elsewhere simply because Russians don't want
friendship with us."
But by mid-2004, two military operations
masterminded by Basaev had transformed the
political landscape in the North Caucasus. The
first was the bomb that killed Chechen administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov in
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 49 ~
May. Instead of reappraising its strategy of
offloading to the pro-Moscow Chechen
leadership the responsibility for neutralizing the
resistance and "normalizing" the political situation
in Chechnya, the Kremlin sought to placate, co-
opt and promote Kadyrov's son Ramzan, whom
many observers believe will replace Kadyrov's
interim successor Alu Alkhanov as soon as he
reaches the age of 30. The second operation,
staged just days after Maskhadov's interview with
RFE/RL, was the raid launched on Interior
Ministry targets in Ingushetia in which some 80
people were killed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22
and 23 June 2004). Ingushetiya.ru quoted a young
Ingush participant in that raid as explaining that
he "and hundreds like me" left home and joined
Basaev's militants after federal security or police
personnel randomly detained their relatives, who
subsequently disappeared without a trace.
Since June, bands of militants reporting to Basaev have surfaced elsewhere in the North Caucasus -
- in Kabardino-Balkaria, where they raided the
local headquarters of the Federal Antinarcotics
Service in December, and in Daghestan, where
Interior Ministry troops and special forces have
launched at least two operations to apprehend
them in recent weeks. The fact that the war in
Chechnya has spilled over the borders of that
republic could be adduced to substantiate the
Russian authorities' repeated argument that
Maskhadov has become irrelevant, and that there
is no point in negotiating with him -- especially in
light of the differences in the military tactics
favored by Maskhadov, who says he abhors
targeting innocent civilians, and Basaev, who
seemingly considers all Russian citizens legitimate
targets. In other words, a "point of no return"
may already have been reached, beyond which,
Russian officials may argue, the only effective
strategy is to continue current efforts to
eradicate all militant bands perceived as posing
potential threats to security and stability in the
North Caucasus.
On the other hand, as Maskhadov himself has
frequently pointed out, all wars have to end, and
most end at the negotiating table. "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" suggested on 9 February that as a man of
"considerable political experience," Maskhadov
can hardly have anticipated that, this time
around, he would receive a positive response
from the Russian authorities to his cease-fire
declaration and call for unconditional peace talks.
If that is the case, then it is reasonable to assume
that Maskhadov's intention may have been to
induce the international community, and above all
U.S. President George W. Bush, to take a
tougher line with Moscow over the need for a
swift and negotiated solution to the Chechen
stalemate before the situation in neighboring
North Caucasus republics deteriorates even
further. (Liz Fuller)
FUROR OVER CHECHEN PEACE
OVERTURES DESIGNED TO FIZZLE
2005-02-11 18:55
PARIS (Angela Charlton for RIA Novosti) - The
terror of Beslan did not bring Vladimir Putin to
the negotiating table. Neither did the Dubrovka
theater siege. Nor have five years of Chechen
terrorist attacks and periodic rebel ceasefires.
Aslan Maskhadov's latest appeal for peace talks
faces the same failure. The international attention
he garnered for his gesture was hardly enough to
persuade the Kremlin to negotiate with its
enemies. Warlord Shamil Basayev's parallel threat
of further terrorist attacks only strengthened
Russians' resolve - and earned the British
broadcaster that aired it a lashing by Russian officialdom. Even the scare of a possible Chechen
nuclear bomb, cited by Boris Berezovsky amid
the uproar, was shrugged off by Russian generals.
All this frenzy is fizzling fast. It appears that the
Kremlin, the Chechens and the international
community are all participating in this ritual
charade: militants grab the spotlight and re-ignite
international indignation about the war, Russian
officials reject any negotiations, and all sides go
home further entrenched in their positions.
The Americans stayed silent this week about
Maskhadov's ceasefire and negotiations offer.
Despite tougher rhetoric from Washington
toward Russia in recent months, the Chechnya
question appears to be currently off-limits. U.S.
Ambassador Alexander Vershbow reaffirmed
U.S. efforts to help Russia choke off terrorists in
Chechnya and talked of fairer elections - but did
not mention peace talks. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, in her latest comments on
Russia, mentioned anti-terrorism cooperation
but did not mention Chechnya by name. Even
though Washington continues to host members
of the Chechen diaspora, the U.S. government
has labeled Basayev's group as terrorists and long
ago stopped calling for negotiations with
Maskhadov.
One of the war's most vigorous critics, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, plans to take part in talks next month
between ex-Maskhadov envoys and current pro-
Kremlin Chechens - but there are no plans for
inviting Mr. Maskhadov's current team. Even
liberal commentators concede that more
ambitious talks, if held, would probably not
produce a lasting settlement.
As weary as Russians are of war, they are
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 50 ~
increasingly convinced that peace in Chechnya is
impossible. The Kremlin recognizes, and
sometimes feeds, this conviction, and shuns all
talk of negotiations.
Russia's stance on Chechnya has been challenged
time and again by the outside world, yet no one
has presented Putin with a solution he can
gracefully pursue, much less a reason to pursue
it. He owes his rise to power to this war, and
abandoning it now could threaten his political
future. More importantly, he has no one to
negotiate with.
Even the war's loudest opponents admit that the
Chechen forces are fractured and that moderate
rebel leaders are near extinction. Onetime
peacemaker Maskhadov, despite denouncing
major terrorist attacks, has done nothing to win
back Russian trust since his leadership of
Chechnya crumbled into chaos in the 1990s. More crucially, his authority over Chechen forces
has crumbled too.
The other internationally recognized face of rebel
Chechnya, Basayev, is too proud of his terrorist
resume to be included in any negotiations. And
he, too, faces resistance among Chechen factions
who wouldn't feel bound by any peace plan
endorsed by him or Maskhadov or both.
Sadly, it means little whether Maskhadov's offer
was a genuine plea for peace or a headline-
grabbing scheme designed to buy his fighters time
to regroup during the hostile mountain winter.
Similarly, for all Berezovsky's wealth, his words
no longer move mountains. Whether he is a
voice of impassioned opposition seeking to end a
war, or a has-been tycoon looking to rekindle his
role as conductor of the Kremlin-Chechnya
relationship, the result is the all-too-familiar
deadlock.
Putin suffered international isolation and wounds
to his reputation because of political upheaval in
Ukraine and Georgia, and ultimately had to
accept what for him was an unfavorable outcome
in both countries. Any such outcome in
Chechnya is unthinkable without foreign military
intervention, something no country is ready to
mount.
A recent hit Russian action film, "Lichny Nomer"
("Countdown" in international versions), seems
particularly apt amid the latest Chechnya debate.
A superhero Russian special agent is kidnapped
by Chechens bankrolled by an exiled oligarch.
The agent is tortured into making a videotaped
confession that he organized terrorist acts
against Russian civilians, then escapes with the
help of a British journalist. Meanwhile, the oligarch strikes a deal with Arab and Chechen
mercenaries to stage a fake terrorist attack on a
circus, so that he can negotiate a triumphant end
to the horror. The Arabs, however, turn out to
be real terrorists, using the attack to spirit a
nuclear bomb out of the country.
Is art imitating life or propaganda? Either way, the
message is clear.
Plan to oust Putin by February 2006 over
Chechnya, says Russian analyst
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
15, 2005
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov's
proposal of cease-fire and talks with the federal
centre is a political tool being used by "certain
forces", including exiled tycoon Boris
Berezovskiy, to undermine President Putin and
effect a change of power in Russia, analyst
Aleksandr Zhilin has said, commenting on Maskhadov's interview for the Kommersant
paper on 7 February. Talking to Russian Centre
TV, Zhilin said that the intelligence services of
"NATO countries and the USA" were "running
the show" in Chechnya. He suggested that
starting in March, a lot of publicity will be
generated around former Russian Prime Minister
Mikhail Kasyanov in an attempt to mould him
into a figure similar to Viktor Yushchenko. The
following is the text of Zhilin's interview
broadcast by Russian Centre TV on 7 February;
subheadings have been inserted editorially:
[Presenter Ilya Kolosov] The guest in our studio
is military observer Aleksandr Zhilin. Good
evening.
Aleksandr, why do we keep returning to the
same topic again and again? Why do you think a
man who controls nothing, or almost nothing,
never fails to find an opportunity to speak to the
country's top leadership via the press and offer a
truce. Failing that, he says, the war will restart.
[Aleksandr Zhilin, captioned as head of the
centre for studying applied problems] You have
posed the question rightly. Maskhadov really
controls very little in Chechnya. In the past two
years, I have thought of him as of a figure a la
[former presidential candidate Ivan] Rybkin in the
hands of certain forces. While [warlord Shamil]
Basayev, although certainly negative, is a fairly
serious figure from the point of view of
rehearsing and implementing his scenarios, in this
hierarchy Maskhadov is below a serious
instructor from Arab countries. Then again,
neither Maskhadov nor Basayev can control the
situation from beginning to end -
[Presenter - interrupting] The situation on their side?
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 51 ~
Chechnya used to put pressure on Putin
[Zhilin] The situation in Chechnya. And the
reason, as has long been plain for all, is that in
this war, or more precisely, in the situation that
is evolving there, the intelligence services of
other countries have been running the show for
a long time now. Those of NATO countries and
the USA. It is they that through third countries
have been both supplying mercenaries and
providing financing, and so on.
[Presenter] Are our intelligence services running
the show?
[Zhilin] Our intelligence services are trying to
counter this, but all this provision for terrorism
doesn't fall from the blue sky. It has been
organized by the intelligence services because
today the Caucasus is a lever they're using to try and put pressure. They are trying to pressure the
president by raising certain fears. After all, we
have all witnessed ghastly terrorist attacks in our
country. All of this fits into the jigsaw of a war
against our country.
[Presenter] I am not sure whether to agree with
this or not. I am probably not competent enough
to either fully agree or categorically disagree with
the above. However, I still have not heard an
answer to my question. Why have those people,
who were put on the federal wanted list several
years ago and who are based on a rather small
area, still not been destroyed, let alone arrested?
Why?
[Zhilin] I am probably not in a position to answer
this question. This question should be addressed
to the special services and to those senior people
who are responsible for that.
[Presenter] But you must have wondered about
it yourself. What explanation did you find?
[Zhilin] Yes, I did wonder. And I cannot find any
other answer apart from the fact that certain
forces in Russia are interested in seeing those
people alive. I for one have found a very simple
formula. For the whole duration of combat
operations in Chechnya - and I have been
through the first Chechen war, then there was
the second Chechen campaign and then the
present - nobody has ever seen, heard, written
about or showed a single shot on the part of
either the federal forces or the gunmen in the
direction of trains or vehicles carrying oil.
[Presenter] While oil keeps coming from there.
[Zhilin] While oil keeps coming from there. It is a good business. Trust me: it is a very good
business. People who are in the know have told
me that it involves huge amounts of money. But
that is not all that it is about. It is clear that any
local conflict, if it becomes protracted, begins to
involve various forces. And that is exactly what
we have in Chechnya.
Change of power in Russia before February 2006
[Zhilin] But why has this jack-in-the-box jumped
out now of all times? What has happened to
make Maskhadov once again appeal to the
president with these proposals. I read that
interview very attentively. It is clear that it was
written in Moscow. It is clear that some pretty
good professionals worked on it. It was not
Maskhadov who answered those questions. All
that is a political tool which I will say more about
a little bit later.
[Presenter] Who do you think wrote that interview?
[Zhilin] Political analysts, and very shrewd
political analysts at that.
[Presenter] In other words, that very force that
is interested in seeing the Chechen war go on?
[Zhilin] Yes, I will tell you what I think about
them, too. On the surface, it would seem that
there are no reasons for Maskhadov to make
those statements. However, I don't think I'll be
giving much away when I say that since last year
certain forces, including [exiled tycoon Boris]
Berezovskiy and other opponents of the current
authorities, have been taking certain steps to
destabilize the situation and to surround
President Putin with certain difficulties. All that is
because an objective has been set, as far as I
know, to have a change of power and the
president in Russia in the period from this
September to February next year. In
confirmation of the above, you will see that
starting in March a lot of publicity will be
generated around [former prime minister]
Mikhail Kasyanov. He is an Yushchenko-type
figure. Already now [liberal politician Boris]
Nemtsov and others are starting to tentatively
mention his name.
[Presenter] In other words, you are linking it all
to Russian domestic politics, right?
[Zhilin] Indeed. Now, let us go back to
Maskhadov's interview. Why am I saying that this
political tool was written by political analysts? If
you look at the piece attentively, you will see
that it is a proposal that the Kremlin cannot
accept. Not only because Maskhadov's name is in
blood and linked with killed children and so on.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 52 ~
[Presenter] There is no point in holding talks
with him because he is not in full control.
[Zhilin] And not only that. His proposal is in
essence a stalemate one. If tomorrow Putin sits
down to talk with Maskhadov, his rating will
plummet because people will question his
actions. If he does not agree to talks, the Union
of Right Forces and company will start screaming:
Look at bloodthirsty Putin, he is refusing to hold
talks while people will continue to be killed and
so on and so forth.
Thus, no matter what Putin does in this situation,
he finds himself at a disadvantage. That is why it
simply has to be explained to people that
Maskhadov's proposals are unacceptable to
Russia's dignity. It is not about Putin. The thing is
that Russia cannot accept them.
[Presenter] Thank you.
Source: Centre TV, Moscow, in Russian 2115
gmt 07 Feb 05
Kommersant Covers War of Words over
'Authenticity' of Maskhadov 'Truce'
Moscow Kommersant in Russian 07 Feb 05 p 3
[Report by Musa Muradov: "Aslan Maskhadov
Not Believed"]
Chechen head Alu Alkhanov has described
Maskhadov's truce as a complete bluff. "We have
no reason to accept his (Maskhadov's --
Kommersant) latest pronouncement about
stopping the terror as gospel truth," the Chechen
president said at a new conference in Moscow on
Saturday, noting that "if Maskhadov and Basayev
really are prepared to stop the terror, then there
must be conditions and he needs to contact the
law enforcement agencies and surrender."
Moreover, Mr Alkhanov did not rule out the
possibility that the terrorist Basayev was actually
dead. "According to the information we had
seven-eight months ago (Mr Alkhanov was
Chechen internal affairs minister at the time --
Kommersant), Basayev had problems with his
kidneys and with his leg that had been operated
on," the Chechen president said, hinting that the
terrorist might have died of an illness.
Representatives of the Russian military grouping
in Chechnya command immediately began to
deny not only the gunmen's leaders' intentions,
but also the authenticity of Maskhadov's
statement. "The law enforcement agencies know
for sure that the information posted on the
extremists' website by the illegal armed
formations' ideologists has nothing to do with
statements allegedly made by Maskhadov and Basayev," Kommersant was told at the regional
operational headquarters running the
counterterrorist operation in the North
Caucasus. "All references to bandit underground
leaders are fictitious and the texts of the
statements themselves are a figment of Movladi
Udugov's imagination." The headquarters
spokesman said that 12 terrorists acts were
committed in the republic from 10 January
through 3 February (Maskhadov's truce began on
1 February.
The claims by the Russian and Chechen
authorities' spokesman were denied, in turn, by
the Ichkerian president's general spokesman,
Umar Khambiyev. "They are merely trying to
portray us as diehard bandits," Mr Khambiyev
told Kommersant yesterday. According to him,
there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of
the Ichkerian president's edict on halting combat
actions. "I have discussed the matter with him
(Maskhadov -- Kommersant) in person," Mr Khambiyev said, "and the resistance fighters are
strictly adhering to the demands of the
president's edict on a unilateral cessation of
combat actions: There has not been a single
attack by our side since 1 February, and this is
acknowledged by anyone observing events in
Chechnya."
Kremlin Discounts Possibility of Talks
With Chechen Rebels After TV
Appearances
Moscow Utro.ru WWW-Text in Russian 08 Feb
05
[Article by Sergey Belukhin: "Basayev and
Maskhadov Occupy Television Screens"]
Strange things are happening on our television.
Chechen terrorist leaders, whose names in
recent years have been customarily mentioned
only in the context of possible elimination and
arrest, are now delivering speeches on central
channels.
Not even a week has passed since the Russian
Foreign Ministry vehemently protested the
showing on British television of an interview with
Shamil Basayev (who, it turns out, is once again
alive and well). Subsequently extracts from the
broadcast are shown to Russian viewers on RTR
and NTV. And now yesterday [7 February] there
is a new sensation: "Ichkerian President" Aslan
Maskhadov broadcasts on our screens.
Moreover, not on Channel 4, which is often
berated for excessive free thought, but on the
official Channel 1. The general meaning of the
speech, which our television journalists
borrowed from colleagues at the Al-Jazirah
channel, is, of course, negative. In particular,
Maskhadov says how he respected and liked the deceased Abu al-Walid, Al-Qa'ida's envoy in
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 53 ~
Chechnya. As is known, the Russian authorities
very much like to demonstrate that Chechnya is
a bastion of international terrorism, which must
be combated by any means. The separatist leader
also says that "volunteers" from Arab countries,
that is to say mercenaries, are fighting on their
side.
Nevertheless, the fact that the people who are
being sought for the Beslan terrorist act and
many other things are appearing on prime-time
television gives pause for thought. What if talks
are actually in the offing with those whom it was
intended to "take out in the john?" But the official
Kremlin, in the person of presidential press
service spokesman Dmitriy Peskov, denies these
theories. "Maskhadov does not control the
situation and, most importantly, he is a terrorist.
No country in the world wants to deal with
terrorists," he stated.
Incidentally, about talks: On Monday [7 February]
Maskhadov gave an interview to Kommersant
newspaper and also published an appeal to the
Russian leadership and world community on
separatist sites. The "president of Ichkeria" claims
that it was on his orders that the republic's
"armed forces" ceased attacks on federal troops,
thereby demonstrating their leaders' readiness
for dialogue. Everything would have been fine
except that the guerrillas violated this suspension
of hostilities tonight when they killed a policeman
in Chechnya's Gudermesskiy Rayon. It looks like
the "commander in chief" does not actually
control his "forest brothers."
In addition, real Chechen President Alu Alkhanov
commented on the "cease-fire" today. "The door
to both the prosecutor's office and bodies of
power is always open to them. If there is a desire
to repent, if there is a desire to say to their
people: forgive me, excuse me, people, because
of us you have suffered for so many years -- let
them come and say that. I think that both the
people and the leadership of the republic will
accept such statements," the head of the republic
stated. Evidently the word "accept" means taking
repentance into account during sentencing.
MASKHADOV’S CEASE-FIRE AND THE
SITUATION IN CHECHNYA
Murad Batal Al-Shishani
CENTRAL ASIA - CAUCASUS ANALYST
Wednesday / February 09, 2005
Chechnya’s President Aslan Maskhadov on
February 3 issued a presidential decree to all
Chechen fighting forces to cease fire for a month
as a gesture of good will to show his willingness
to negotiate. Maskhadov forbade any use of
weapons except in self-defense. The announcement is important to understanding the
situation in the Republic that has been caught in a
war for a decade. The announcement also raises
several questions regarding the power
Maskhadov actually yields and its influence on
solving the Chechen conflict. It is an indicator of
Maskhadov’s power over the Chechen resistance
forces, the interrelations between political
powers in Chechnya, and Russia’s earnestness in
finding a solution for the crisis.
BACKGROUND: The second Russian-Chechen
war erupted in 1999, and the Russian forces
invaded the Republic and presented a formula for
resolution of the conflict based on fraudulent
elections that brought Chechnya’s former mufti
(religious leader), Ahmad Kadyrov, to power.
Following Kadyrov’s assassination in May 2004,
the power was turned to Alu Alkhanov in the
same way, and he became a head of a pro-
Russian government. Consequently, political
power in Chechnya was divided into three major wings: the first represented by the legitimate
president, Aslan Maskhadov, who represents a
moderate national movement calling for a
peaceful solution to the conflict, pulling Russian
forces out of the Chechen Republic, and
negotiations. Among the most important figures
of this movement are Vice President Ahmed
Zakayev and Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov.
The second is a radical movement spearheaded
by Russia’s number one man on the wanted list,
field commander Shamil Basayev. This movement
is in alliance with the salafi-jihadist movement and
calls for driving the Russian forces out to
establish their version of an Islamic state. Finally,
the third movement is represented by the pro-
Russian Chechen government. This movement is
itself divided into two wings: the formal wing
represented by Alu Alkhanov, and an informal
one represented by Ramzan, the son of the
former President Ahmed Kadyrov. Both are
supported by Russia, in particular Ramzan, who
along with his armed militia has created a state
within a state formula. Ramzan Kadyrov’s militia
forces are also judged responsible for many of
the human rights violation occurring in
Chechnya.
Maskhadov’s latest announcement is a “power
test” in which he seeks to demonstrate his
authority over Chechen fighters as a response to
Russia’s refusal to negotiate with him on the
basis that he is a “terrorist”. Independent reports
and pro-Russian Chechen forces confirm that no
major attacks or subversive actions by resistance
forces have taken place since the announcement
went into effect, while Russian and pro-Russian
forces have continued conducting so-called
mopping-up operations.
If Maskhadov’s initiative continues to be successful, it will create a quandary for the pro-
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 54 ~
Russian movement that capitalizes on the
argument that Maskhadov has no claim to power
inside Chechnya and does not influence all forces
there, hence a peace deal with him would not
constitute an end to fighting. The announcement
is a power test especially in being a response to
the claim that the salafi-jihadist movement is in
control of the Chechen resistance, as Russian
propaganda and some of the pro-Russian forces
attempt to spread.
IMPLICATIONS: The moderate national
movement, led by Maskhadov, Zakayev and
Akhmadov is the major power center capable of
pacifying the situation in Chechnya. The salafi-
jihadist movement, on the other hand, is facing a
crisis due mainly to the assassination of its
leaders. Samer Bin Saleh Bin Abdullah Al-Swelim,
better known as Amir Khattab, was poisoned in
2002, and his successor Abu al-Walid al-Ghamidi
was killed in April 2004 – effectively killing the main Arab element in the leadership. Chechen
supporters were also targeted, such as former
Chechen interim President Zelimkhan
Yandarbiyev, who was killed by Russian agents in
Qatar. The leadership vacuum also worsened the
lack of funding that the salafi-jihadists had
experienced due to international efforts to halt
terrorist financing, and it is apparent in many of
the movement leaders’ statements. On the other
hand, the Beslan massacre and the hostage-taking
of schoolchildren undermined the popularity of
Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for
the operation. According to most Chechens,
Basayev’s action amounted to a desecration of
their long struggle for freedom. Probably realizing
this, Basayev was the first to announce his
adherence to Maskhadov’s order. Indeed, no
resistance operations were recorded in the first
days following the announcement of the cease-
fire while at the same time human rights
organizations recorded an escalation in arrests of
citizens by local and federal forces.
The last movement, represented by the pro-
Russian government, is also facing several
dilemmas. The first is it near total lack of
legitimacy; another is the very real possibility of
conflict between its formal and informal divisions.
There is increasing evidence of Kadyrov Jr.’s
involvement in corruption, including the illegal
trafficking of oil and support for armed militias.
CONCLUSIONS: While Maskhadov wishes to
prove his power in Chechnya and that this is the
best solution for a peaceful finale to the Russian-
Chechen war, the rejection by Moscow and the
pro-Russian forces in Chechnya of the cease-fire
is important. Accordingly, the pro-Russian
government, supported by Russian forces, is
likely even to escalate its provocative actions as part of its so-called mopping-up policy. As a
result, there is a risk that the radical wing of the
Chechen resistance will break the cease-fire and
will proceed with attacks on Russian forces.
Maskhadov, as mentioned above, ordered
Chechen forces to resort to weapons only in
self-defense.
The real danger is that Russia seems to believe
that rejecting the initiative, or at least not
welcoming it, will imply a success of its policy of
‘chechenizing’ the conflict. It would have been
more feasible for Russia to welcome
Maskhadov’s initiative – or at least not reject it
out of hand – because continuing with this policy
of obduracy and refusal to negotiate with
Maskhadov will only keep the reins in the hands
of those benefiting from this brutal war.
AUTHOR’S BIO: Murad Batal Al-Shishani is a
Jordanian-Chechen writer who holds an M.A
degree in Political Science, specializing in Islamic Movements in Chechnya. He is author of the
book "Islamic Movement in Chechnya and the
Chechen-Russian Conflict 1990-2000, Amman
2001 (in Arabic).
Moscow Continues To Reject Chechen
Rebels' Overture
Russia -- FMA in English 09 Feb 05
[FBIS Media Analysis]
Russia: Moscow Continues To Reject Chechen
Rebels' Overture
Chechen rebel spokesmen are continuing a public
relations offensive touting the recent ceasefire
orders by rebel leaders Aslan Maskhadov and
Shamil Basayev as a real opportunity for a
negotiated peace, despite the fact that Russian
and pro-Moscow Chechen officials have rejected
Maskhadov's initiative out of hand. While pro-
government and state-run media have also
rejected or ignored the initiative, some non-
government media have argued Moscow should
explore it, and a few have even suggested the
Kremlin might be willing to do so.
On 2 February, the main rebel websites --
Kavkaz-Tsentr, Chechenpress, and Daymohk --
carried a brief report saying rebel President
Maskhadov had ordered a ceasefire until the end
of February. While the websites did not publish
the text of Maskhadov's order, on 3 February
they did publish the text of another ceasefire
order, this one from Chechen rebel field
commander Shamil Basayev, who has at times
seemed at odds with Maskhadov. Basayev, "in
fulfillment of" Maskhadov's order, ordered "all
fighters under my command" to unilaterally cease
offensive operations against Russian forces and Chechen and Russian civilians until 22 February.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 55 ~
On 3 February, NTV, RenTV, Ekho Moskvy radio
[footnote: All three networks are owned by
state-controlled companies but have often shown
considerable editorial independence.] reported
the ceasefire announcement, but the main state-
run TV networks, Channel One and Rossiya, did
not. Neither did government-run Chechen TV in
Groznyy.
Chechen rebel spokesmen touted the ceasefire
announcement as a breakthrough that could lead
to peace talks and a negotiated end to the war.
-- A statement on the rebel Foreign Ministry's
website called it a "demonstration of good will"
and an "invitation to Russia to open genuine
peace talks" (Chechen Foreign Ministry, 2
February).
-- Umar Khambiyev, one of Maskhadov's representatives abroad, called it a "sign of good
will," meant to "invite Russia to end the war at
the negotiating table." He also asserted the
ceasefire would demonstrate that the rebels
were not disparate bands but a united and strong
force under Maskhadov's command (Kavkaz-
Tsentr, Daymohk, 3 February).
-- Another Maskhadov representative, Usman
Ferzauli, said Maskhadov was "confident" that
"peace initiatives" could lead to a "compromise
and peace" (Ekho Moskvy Radio, 3 February).
Moscow, Chechen Allies Reject Initiative
While the Kremlin itself offered no immediate
public comment, some Russian officials were
quick to reject the ceasefire declaration,
portraying it as a propaganda ploy and disputing
Maskhadov's ability to deliver on any promises.
-- Southern Federal District Presidential
Representative and former Kremlin deputy chief
of staff Dmitriy Kozak dismissed the ceasefire
announcement as an "attempt to attract
publicity" and asserted "Maskhadov has never
been in control of the situation" (ITAR-TASS, 3
February).
-- Ground Forces Deputy Commander Vladimir
Bulgakov called it a "ruse" and said rebel attacks
on Russian positions and convoys were
continuing (AVN, 3 February).
Some official spokesmen and other observers
interpreted the end date of 22 February in
Basayev's ceasefire order as meaning the rebels
were planning a major attack for 23 February, the
anniversary of Stalin's deportation of the
Chechen people to Central Asia (Kommersant, 3 February; Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moskovskiy
Komsomolets, Politcom.ru, 4 February).
Officials in Chechnya's pro-Moscow government
were even more emphatic in rejecting the
ceasefire declaration.
-- Chechen President Alu Alkhanov denounced it
as a "propaganda trick" aimed at foreign public
opinion and asserted Maskhadov had never kept
his promises (President and Government of
Chechnya -- Official Site, 3 February).
-- Ramzan Kadyrov, first deputy premier for
security, called it "cynical" and accused
Maskhadov and Basayev of planning to commit
new "terrorist acts" as soon as the ceasefire
expired (AVN, 3 February).
-- Evidently seeking to put a negative spin on
Khambiyev's comment, Chechen State Council
Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov called the ceasefire announcement a "ruse and a provocation," as
well as an attempt to falsely "claim the guerrillas
have a single control center." In fact, Dzhabrailov
claimed, neither Maskhadov nor Basayev control
any significant number of fighters (AVN, 3
February).
As if to emphasize that the rebel leaders remain
beyond the pale and to discredit the idea of
peace talks, Russia's General Prosecutor's Office
on 3 February formally charged Maskhadov and
Basayev with responsibility for the September
hostage-taking at a school in Beslan, North
Ossetia, and other attacks (Radio Rossii, AVN, 3
February).
Maskhadov Continues Initiative . . .
In the face of these rejections, Maskhadov on 7
February issued an appeal to President Putin and
granted an interview to the respected daily
Kommersant, which is owned by anti-Kremlin
oligarch Boris Berezovskiy.
-- In his appeal to Putin, Maskhadov said he
hoped to ward off the "uncontrolled and
disastrous processes with unpredictable
consequence" that the continuation of the war
could set off (Chechenpress, Kavkaz-Tsentr,
Daymohk, 7 February).
-- He told Kommersant the ceasefire was a
"good-will gesture" and an "invitation" for
Moscow to open negotiations (7 February).
According to one source, Khambiyev even
suggested the rebels would accept a settlement
short of full independence. In an interview with
the pro-rebel website The Chechen Times, he
said the rebels were "not fixated on independence," so long as the "existence of the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 56 ~
Chechen nation" was guaranteed. He added, "If
the negotiators don't want to call it
independence, we will find a different formula" (7
February).
. . . and Moscow Continues Rejection
Russian officials again responded negatively.
Among major broadcast media, only NTV, Ekho
Moskvy, and the Moscow city government's
Center TV network reported Maskhadov's 7
February statements and the official response.
-- Kozak again dismissed Maskhadov's initiative as
a "PR trick" (ITAR-TASS, 9 February).
-- Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov rejected
any idea of negotiations, calling Maskhadov a
"terrorist" and saying, "No country in the world
wants to deal with terrorists" (Utro.ru, 8
February).
-- NTV quoted unnamed Russian commanders in
Chechnya as again dismissing the initiative as a
"ruse" (8 February).
-- The government news agency ITAR-TASS
quoted an unnamed "high-ranking military official"
of the Russian forces in Chechnya as calling the
ceasefire a "blatant lie" intended to buy time for
the rebels to regroup during the winter (8
February).
-- Several Federation Council and Duma
members rejected Maskhadov's initiative.
Defense Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov
called the ceasefire an "information war" tactic
(NTV, AVN, 7 February). Council Chairman
Sergey Mironov said Maskhadov was merely
seeking to "dampen the federal government's
vigilance" (ITAR-TASS, 8 February).
Once again, pro-Moscow Chechen officials also
rejected the initiative.
-- Alkhanov again denounced the ceasefire as a
"lie" and called on Maskhadov to surrender to
the authorities (NTV, Center TV, Ekho Moskvy
radio, 8 February).
-- Kadyrov said it merely showed the rebels had
been "driven into a corner" and demanded that
Maskhadov surrender (NTV, ITAR-TASS, 7
February)
-- Dzhabrailov stated flatly "there will be no
political contacts with Maskhadov and his circle"
(AVN, 7 February). He later predicted more
"similar offers," implying the pro-Moscow
Chechen authorities would continue to oppose
talks (ITAR-TASS, 9 February).
Commentaries in pro-government newspapers
echoed official dismissals of Maskhadov's
initiative:
-- The government newspaper Rossiyskaya
Gazeta called the ceasefire a "PR campaign" (8
February) and the Defense Ministry's Krasnaya
Zvezda called it a "propaganda trick" (9
February).
-- Komsomolskaya Pravda, owned by pro-
Kremlin oligarch Vladimir Potanin, urged the
government to ignore what it called a "trap" for
Russia and "in essence, an ultimatum by
terrorists" (8 February).
Furthermore, the Federal Service for Monitoring
Legal Compliance by Mass Media issued an official
warning to Kommersant for publishing
Maskhadov's interview, which it said "justified and
condoned terrorist activities" (ITAR-TASS, 8 February).
State-owned Channel One TV, which did not
report Maskhadov's ceasefire order or his 7
February statements, broadcast a lengthy news
item on 7 February with video footage it said
proved Maskhadov had close ties to al-Qa'ida --
presumably seeking to discredit him as a
negotiating partner.
Non-Government Media See Chance for Peace
Despite the chorus of official rejection, some
media often critical of the government argued
that Moscow should at least explore Maskhadov's
initiative. A few suggested -- official denials
notwithstanding -- that the Kremlin might be
considering doing so.
-- Aleksey Malashenko of the Moscow Carnegie
Center said the initiative might be a reaction to
"not entirely articulated" signs that "Moscow is
beginning to rethink its Caucasus policy"
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 4 February).
-- Anna Politkovskaya, a long-time critic of the
war in Chechnya, called on the Kremlin to have
the "courage" to "accept the hand of good will"
offered by Maskhadov. She said the negative
official response to date was "stupid" (Novaya
Gazeta, 7 February).
-- The independent Moscow Times quoted an
anonymous Kremlin spokeswoman as saying that
President Putin's public silence so far "does not
mean [Maskhadov's initiative] is not being
discussed in the Kremlin" (8 February).
-- Controversial columnist Aleksandr Minkin
asserted Maskhadov had proved his good will and his effectiveness, saying rebel activity had stopped
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 57 ~
throughout Chechnya. He suggested Moscow or
the pro-Moscow Chechen government might
stage a false rebel attack to discredit Maskhadov
(Moskovskiy Komsomolets, 9 February).
[Begin box]
Is the Ceasefire Real?
Russian, Chechen, and other media published
conflicting reports as to whether rebel attacks
had in fact ceased or even declined.
On 7 February, NTV reported the Chechen
Interior Ministry (MVD) had noted a "decline" in
rebel activity. The independent website
Kavkazskiy Uzel cited a Chechen MVD source as
saying on 6 February there had been no rebel
attacks for the past three days, and quoted the
Russian military command as saying "the situation
is for the most part quiet" (7 February). AFP quoted an anonymous source in the pro-Moscow
Chechen government as saying, "The ceasefire
appears to be holding" (7 February).
However, on 9 February, the military
commandant's office in Chechnya asserted there
had been no decline in rebel attacks (ITAR-TASS,
9 February). An anonymous "high-ranking military
officer" asserted rebel activities were continuing
unchanged (ITAR-TASS, 8 February;
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 9 February). Rossiyskaya
Gazeta claimed that 12 "terrorist acts" had been
prevented since the ceasefire was declared (8
February).
Akhmed Zakayev, Maskhadov's chief
representative in Western Europe, asserted such
statements by the Russians were predictable and
were intended to "discredit" Maskhadov's
initiative (Chechenpress, Kavkaz-Tsentr, 9
February).
[End box]
An Open Appeal to the President of the
Russian Federation from Leading Russian
Human Rights Activists
International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights
Moscow, 9 February 2005
Cease-Fire in Chechnya and Talks with
Maskhadov are Necessary
For more than 10 years now, with a quasi three-
year break, in reality Russia has been at war with
Chechnya. This has been a terrible war, with tens
of thousands of casualties, hundreds of thousands
of crippled people, destroyed cities and a ruined
economy. Recently, a new opportunity has arisen to put a stop to this vicious conflict – Aslan
Maskhadov, the political leader of the Chechen
resistance, has not only ordered a unilateral
cease-fire, but has also publicly condemned
Basayev's actions. He stressed that Basayev
should be tried by an international tribunal,
thereby, defiantly dissociating himself not only
from Basayev, but also from the whole radical
wing of insurgents. In no case, should this
historical chance for peace be missed.
We understand that it is very easy to ignore this
unprecedented gesture of the opponent calling it
a "trick." Yet, to ignore it will only result in
radical groups of insurgents placing more
pressure on the moderate wing calling them
traitors. And then nothing will stop the final
transformation of the Chechen war into an
"eternal conflict," or prevent its further
proliferation across the whole of the Northern
Caucasus.
Terrorists are capable of supporting the existing
level of military-terrorist activities for many
years, especially if Chechnya is surrounded by the
same intensive terror and insurgent war support
system, which has been formed around Israel or
Iraq, now occupied by international coalition
troops. This will be an extremely heavy blow for
Russia. It is also clear that the number of Islamic
radicals among the insurgents will increase year
after year, for whom the Chechen war is just one
of several fronts in the fight against the West,
and who need "a war for war’s sake." In parallel,
the radicalization of the civil population will
grow. Radicals are not interested in any terms
for a peace settlement, even the most favourable
for the secular wing of separatists. At the same
time, we will witness an even faster growth in the
strength and power of ultranationalists in the
Russian politics ready to use the Chechen
conflict and terror to build up fascism in the
country. The conclusion is obvious – the earlier a
clear political dialogue between the Russian
federal authorities with the moderate wing of the
Chechen resistance is launched, the more
chances we may have of reaching a peace
settlement.
History teaches that negotiations are the only
means of achieving by political methods what is
difficult to achieve by force.
Mr. President, peace talks with a moderate wing
of insurgents are a promising political alternative,
in fact a unique way to prevent transformation of
Chechnya into another confrontation line of
Islamic radicalism and western civilization. Now,
perhaps, Russia is faced with a key historical
decision; another chance has appeared to save
many thousands of lives. Should the chance be
lost, the future generations of politicians will have to find a way out of the deadlock under much
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 58 ~
more difficult conditions.
Mr. President, we are calling you – as the
Supreme Commander in Chief, the guarantor of
the constitutional rights of the citizens of Russia,
and, above all, of the right to life, to order a
cease-fire in Chechnya and to form a delegation
to commence talks with Maskhadov on a peaceful
political settlement.
L.M. Alekseeva, Moscow Helsinki Group,
Chairperson
A.V. Babushkin, Committee “For Civil Rights”
V.V. Borschev, Moscow Helsinki Group, member
S.V. Brovchenko, Public Fund “Glasnost”
S.A. Gannushkina, Committee “Civil Facilitation”
L.I. Grafova, Coordinating Committee for
Refugees and Enforced Migrants
E.L. Grishina, Public Association “Public
Information Centre”
S.A. Kovalev, T. Kasatkina, O. Orlov, Human Rights Centre “Memorial”
A.A. Piontkovski, Center for Strategic
Researches, President
A.S. Politkovksaya, journalist
L.A. Ponomarev, Yu.A. Rybakov, Civil Movement
“For Human Rights”
Yu.V. Samodurov, Sakharov’s Museum and Public
Centre “Peace, Progress, Human Rights”
A.P. Tkachenko, writer
G.P. Yakunin, Public Committee for Freedom of
Conscience Defence
Maskhadov Unilateral Cease-Fire Order
Said Initiated From Abroad
By Yevgeniy Sobetskiy
GROZNY, February 9, 2005 (Itar-Tass) - The
chairman of the Chechen State Council, Taus
Dzhabrailov, believes a unilateral cease-fire order
by Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov may
have been initiated from abroad as part of a plan
by certain forces to stall the process of a real
settlement of the situation in the restive republic.
"I am confident there will be more similar offers,
and all of them fit well into separatists' plans to
prove that they do exist and can seriously
influence something," the speaker told Itar-Tass
on Wednesday commenting on the initiative by
former Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov.
He did not rule out that PACE could also be
used in their "attempts to buy public at large with
such projects". Dzhabrailov said some Ichkerian
leaders, including former health minister Umar
Khambiyev, whom Maskhadov appointed his
envoy in contacts with federal troops, as well as
deputy chairman of the Ichkerian parliament
Selim Bishayev" could be involved in that.
According to Dzhabrailov, in actual fact all this
demonstrates "only the nervousness of
Maskhadov himself and of those, who associate
with him plans to destabilize the situation in the
republic". He said the main reason behind such
nervousness is the fact that Chechen law
enforcement agencies "have seriously 'treaded on
the tail' of bandits, first of all in the mountainous
part of the republic".
He listed as an example a recent operation in
Chechnya's Vedeno region, in which "12 to 14
so-called 'amirs', or more simply first leaders of
different bandit groups were killed, which is a
serious blow on bandits".
"It is the effectiveness of anti-terrorist activity of
federal troops and law enforcement agencies of
Chechnya that makes Makshadov launch
initiatives, which can't be dubbed otherwise than
bizarre," the Chechen official stressed.
Chechen Website Criticizes Actions,
Position of Russian Human Rights
Campaigners
(Internet) Kavkaz-Tsentr News Agency WWW-
Text in Russian 12 Feb 05
[Report by Boris Stomakhin: "The Lubyanka's
voluntary helpers"]
It is one thing to respect people for what they
have done in the past, but it is quite another to
assess them on today's events. The address of
leading Russian human rights campaigners to
[Russian President Vladimir] Putin in connection
with the CRI [Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]
president [Aslan Maskhadov]'s announcement of
a cease-fire is striking. It is a long time since we
have had to read such abject garbage signed by so
many important and celebrated names. These
venerable champions of human rights are
zealously driving a wedge between, as they put it,
"the wings of the separatists."
"Chechen Resistance leader Aslan Maskhadov has
not only issued an order about a unilateral cease-
fire, but has publicly condemned the actions of
[Chechen rebel leader Shamil] Basayev, declaring
him worthy of an international tribunal, and in
this way has demonstrably distanced himself not
only from him, but from the whole radical wing
of the 'militants'," they write. They are pleased
and relishing the situation, and in doing so they
are thus distorting things just a little and inviting
Putin to share their joy.
Well, OK - the people who signed this letter are
those who right from the beginning and in all
these years of Putin's rule have stood in front of
the Lubyanka on their hind legs and defended
human rights in Russia on the principle "we'll dance to our people and yours for three
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 59 ~
kopecks". In other words - the main thing is not
to quarrel with the Kremlin, not to go too far in
"defending the rights of specific people", but for
the sake of such a sacred goal you may sit down
and embrace the bloody vampire from the
Lubyanka even in the presidiums of various "civic
forums".
But the fact that Yuliy Rybakov, one of the last of
the inflexible, irreconcilable and uncompromising
ones, a former Soviet political prisoner and a
member of the DU [Democratic Union], signed
this fawning billet-doux to Putin is very
depressing. When people like him join in the
yelping of the aforementioned whelps to the
elephant (in this case, Basayev) - it means things
are really bad. "There is something rotten in the
state of Denmark", and it is particularly rotten in
with the conscience and courage of its best
people.
And it is a long time since we heard such garbage
from Sergey Adamovich Kovalev, perhaps some
four whole years, from that very meeting on 22
February 2001 which was arranged by all these
leading "moderate and conscientious" human
rights campaigners, precisely on the 22nd so as
not to "set tongues wagging" with the 23rd. At
that meeting he got up on the platform and gave
a roasting to the more radical wing of Moscow's
anti-war movement, which had prepared for the
next day, the set date, another more radical
meeting in memory of the deportation of the
Chechen people. He then described us as
Raskolniks [dissidents], provocateurs, and so on;
just as well he didn't call us earthworms.
This letter leaves not just a sad, but a loathsome
impression. Let me give you a quote from it: "It is
obvious that among the 'militants' there will be
an increase every year of the ratio of 'Islamic
radicals' for whom the war in Chechnya is merely
one of several fronts of the struggle against the
West, which needs a 'war for a war'. At the same
time, the peaceful populations will become more
radical. The radicals have absolutely no interest
in any settlement, not even the most
advantageous conditions for a peace settlements
for the secular wing of the separatists," the
human rights champions write.
This is a direct lie, an absolute fallacy. When
Rusnya [Russia], for heaven's sake, was the
"West"??? [Question marks as published] A
typical Aziopa [Asia and Europe], a "Third Rome"
inclining towards a Third Reich. How can a war
with Rusnya be a "war with the West"?? And this
was signed by Kovalev, Rybakov, [Valeriy]
Borshchev and [Father Gleb] Yakunin. If [former
Russian dissident Andrey] Sakharov had been
alive, no doubt he would have signed it, too.
So one wants to say that the world has gone
mad, or that the old, respected, merited human
rights champions, celebrated Soviet dissidents
and political prisoners from the past have simply
entered senility. For how else can one explain
the fact that they are so openly bringing disgrace
on their grey hair, composing and signing
malicious lies and deliberately driving a wedge,
splitting the ranks of those very Chechens whose
fate they appear to be so concerned about?
However, everything falls into place when you
recall that since December 1994 all these
"Memorials" and "Helsinki groups" have defended
exclusively the PEACEFUL POPULATION [web
site's capitals], who undoubtedly more acutely
than anyone else has been in need of protection,
whereas having declared the "militants" from the
very outset "extremists" and "terrorists" and
urging them to surrender to the discretion of
Russia and her authorities. To appeal to a whole nation to voluntarily climb into the crocodile's
mouth "in order to save the peaceful population",
and for the conscientious section of this nation
which is resisting this "savior" to branch away
and expose itself to dishonor and try to disarm -
that's their clever idea of "human rights" for you.
Do these respected human rights activists and
inveterate humanists realize who they are really
working for by deliberately splitting the ranks of
the fighting Chechen Resistance? If they do not,
then perhaps we should explain to them. They
are working for Putin, the Kremlin and the
Lubyanka, whether they want to recognize this
or not. And there was a time, in the dissident
years of the 70s, when these exposed
"informers" in their ranks were held in deserved
contempt.
However, what they are doing now is not much
worse than just writing petitions to the bloody
maniac in the Kremlin, the vampire with cold fish
eyes who is dripping in the blood of the Chechen
people. They write devoted collective letters to
him, in this way making it clear to each and
everyone that they recognize this vampire as
their lawful president, and they consider his
authority legitimate and are prepared to
subordinate themselves to it. And they are
striving to split the Chechens fighting under the
command of Maskhadov and Basayev into
"moderates" and "radicals", leading the former to
voluntary surrender to Putin, and the latter to
annihilation by his punitive forces. The latter are
being fed the so-called "conditional independence
plan" which is actively supported by the human-
rights-anti-war group.
Meanwhile, no wandering around the halls of
Europe, no debates in the European Parliament and PACE [Parliamentary Assembly of the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 60 ~
Council of Europe] resolutions will substitute for
the autonomous group of the mojahedin outside
Vedeno [District in Chechnya] which is daily
fighting and routing the Russian invaders and
their booty. No playing at human rights, sending
pathetic petitions to the authorities or calling for
a "clear political dialogue" will help to save a
people who are being exterminated by the anti-
humans in Russian uniform but who are dealing
an armed rebuff [to these invaders] all the time
and everywhere. It is a rebuff by those people
who our petitioners to Putin call "Islamic
radicals".
From this point of view it is precisely Shamil
Basayev who is today and in all the years of the
war has been the most effective and consistent
champion of human rights, defending the rights
and freedom of his people many hundreds of
times more effectively than all the [Lev]
Ponomarevs and Kovalevs. And that six-barrel rocket launcher which he demonstrated recently
during an interview to British television is a
symbol of REAL [website's capitals] protection of
human rights, from which all those who signed
the letter to Putin, even in spite of their service
in the Soviet camp (some of them), are as far
removed as is heaven from earth.
Incidentally, all this history does a very dubious
service to Maskhadov - his name is being used by
the Russian "human rights champions" as a kind
of symbol of "moderation", and this group of
comrades writes all its false nonsense about the
"radical wing of the militants", protecting the
name of Maskhadov, almost on his behalf.
Yes, all wars always end in talks, but according to
conscience and honor, as will the talks with the
murderer of 42,000 Chechen children, with a
war criminal and international terrorist, the
butcher of a peaceful population, as is Putin's
Chekist junta which rules Russia.
"One cannot have any talks with terrorists, they
can only be wiped out!" Is that clear, Messrs
Kovalev, Ponomarev, and the rest of you?
Appeal for Peace in Chechnya
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples
Organisation
2005-02-12
Dear Mrs. Louise Arbour,
On behalf of the Unrepresented Nations and
Peoples Organization (UNPO), in reference to
Your current visit to the Russian Federation, as
the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, I take this opportunity to bring
the following to Your attention.
The Government of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria , led by President Aslan Mashkadov,
Member of UNPO, announced on 2 February
2005 a unilateral ceasefire of all armed Chechen
forces. President Mashkadov declared that until
22 February 2005, the day prior to the 60th
anniversary of Stalin’s deportation of the
Chechen people to Central Asia, Chechen
troops will not attack Russian positions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Mashkadov
Government has announced that the ceasefire "is
intended to demonstrate to the Russian side and
the international community the will of the
Chechen leadership to resolve the Russian-
Chechen conflict by peaceful means."
Human Rights organizations worldwide have
welcomed this initiative as yet another offer by
President Mashkadov to end violence and renew
dialogue toward a political resolution of the decade-long conflict. To most Chechens,
President Maskhadov remains a legitimate
authority and is Chechnya's only democratically
elected leader.
Considering the critical opportunity embodied in
President Mashkadov’s initiative, UNPO urges
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
To acknowledge the importance of this ceasefire;
To recognize the efforts of the Chechen party
towards a settlement of the ongoing conflict;
To entreat the Russian authorities to use the
ceasefire offer as an opportunity to begin
dialogue on a negotiated resolution of the
conflict;
To bring forward the recent Chechen initiative
to the attention of all the UN bodies mandated
to work on matters of security and conflict
resolution.
UNPO would be grateful if the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights will give due
consideration to the requests contained in this
letter.
Sincerely,
Marino Busdachin
General Secretary
Application of Ahmed Zakaev
the Department of the governmental information
Chechenpress, 14.02.05
Since the moment, when the President of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria Aslan Mashadov ordered to stop unilaterally the offensive military
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 61 ~
actions, the Russian mass-media, which before
had extremely avariciously informed about the
events in the Chechen Republic , began to
publish numerous reports on attacks, the object
of which occupational forces and the pro-Russian
puppet structures were. The purpose of these
publications is quite obvious: to convince the
public that the unilateral moratorium declared by
the Chechen President, ostensibly, is not
observed. And to accuse Aslan Mashadov either
of insincerity, or that he does not control the
forces of the Resistance.
To understand the provocative essence of these
reports is enough to remember the application of
general Shabalkin, the main information
megaphone of the invaders: "Our headquarters
never report about loss of the federal army. It is
a kind of credo and I am not going to break it"
("The Time of News", 24.08.2004). Now, having
broken his "credo", Shabalkin became too garrulous and almost daily reports about losses
of the federal army, about attacks,
bombardments and undermining carried out,
according to his assurances, by the Chechen
fighters. However this propaganda convinces
only, that liars sooner or later turn out to be in
an awkward situation.
Certainly, after the publication of the order of
the President, we expected provocations from
the Russian “federals”, the purpose of which are
to discredit the peace initiatives of the Chechen
management. As in Aslan Mashadov's order it is
said about the moratorium on offensive actions
not only in the Chechen Republic , but also in
Russia , we do not exclude also, that the Russian
special services in the nearest future will
dramatize acts of terrorism in the territory of
the Russian Federation as well. Really, what can
prevent the security officers' regime to carry out
next bloody provocation? It is enough to
remember, that Putin ascended to the Kremlin
throne through the corpses of hundreds of his
own citizens, who had been blown up by his
special services in apartment houses of the
Russian cities in autumn, 1999.
In order to carry out genocide of the Chechen
people and fulfillment of the meanest
provocations, the Russian authorities do not let
foreign journalists, representatives of the legal
and humanitarian organizations to the Chechen
Republic . In this situation it is quite obvious, that
from two contending parties only the criminal
one is interested in absence of unbiased
observers in the zone of the conflict. During all
years of the war the Chechen management
insists on the international monitoring of the
conflict, because we have nothing to conceal, and
the Russian party prevents such a monitoring, because it is interested in concealing its crimes
from the international public.
We declare that forces of the Resistance strictly
follow the order of the Commander-in-Chief of
the Chechen Armed forces, President Mashadov,
about cease-fire. We also declare, that we are
not only ready, but also we call international
observers to become arbitrators in the problems
of observance of the moratorium on offensive
actions declared by the Chechen party in the
beginning of February. And if the Russian party
declares about infringements of this moratorium
by the Chechen fighters, logically, it should be
most interested in that the international public
on behalf of independent observers would make
sure in it.
Ahmed Zakaev,
The special representative of the President of the
Chechen Republic Ichkeria in foreign countries
Chechen Rebel Envoy Denies Reports of Planned Attack
Moscow Ekho Moskvy Radio in Russian 1000
GMT 14 Feb 05
[Announcer] Fighting in the North Caucasus is
not ending. Today, there have been reports
about a new battle. Moreover, this news raises
particular interest bearing in mind the one-way
cease-fire which the separatists have declared.
Who provoked the clash today? Nadezhda
Pravdina tried to clear this up.
[Correspondent] The special operation is
continuing near the Chechen villages of Staryye
and Novyye Atagi. After the fighting last night,
law-enforcement sub units are inspecting the
villages. I remind you that fighting started at
about 0100 [2200 GMT] in the flood plains of the
River Argun. According to the spokesman for the
regional operational headquarters for
counterterrorist operations in the North
Caucasus, Ilya Shabalkin, federal troops knew
about the attack before.
[Shabalkin] Because there was convincing
information about this move, patrols were
deployed. In the course of a short combat
encounter, six gunmen were killed. At the
present time, sub units are continuing inspections
in the area where the clash took place.
[Correspondent] One of the rebels killed today
in Staryye Atagi is most probably an Arab
mercenary, Ilya Shabalkin said. He said there
were 15 rebels in total. However, [Chechen
rebel leader] Aslan Maskhadov's envoy, Akhmed
Zakayev, said in an interview with our radio
station that this information does not
correspond with reality. Chechen separatists
continue to fulfill Maskhadov's order for a complete cease-fire until the end of February.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 62 ~
[Zakayev] There are no large clashes because the
sub units which are under the command of
president Maskhadov are all strictly adhering to
this order.
[Correspondent] I remind you that it was in the
middle of January that Aslan Maskhadov gave the
order for a complete one-way cease-fire across
the whole territory of Chechnya and beyond its
borders until 22 February. According to the
separatists, the armistice was declared in a mark
of good will. They are waiting for an adequate
response from Russia. However, the Russian
president's plenipotentiary representative in the
Southern Federal District, Dmitriy Kozak, has
called Maskhadov's declaration political PR. The
Chechen leadership has proposed that the leader
of the Chechen separatists, Aslan Maskhadov,
gives himself up.
Russian Official Says Pointless To Hold
Talks With Chechen Leader Maskhadov
MOSCOW. Dec 16, 2004 (Interfax) - It would
not make sense to hold negotiations with
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov,
Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila
Alexeyeva said.
"Maskhadov is not supreme commander-in-chief
there [in Chechnya]. He has his own unit, but all
the other field commanders are acting
independently," Alexeyeva told Interfax on
Thursday.
"It would be pointless to hold talks with
Maskhadov. His unit will possibly agree not to
fight. But will this help?" she said.
"Contacts should be established with various war
lords in Chechnya, not necessarily Maskhadov,
whose name acts like a red rag," Alexeyeva said.
Negotiations with guerrillas involved in terrorist
attacks are impossible, she said.
"This primarily concerns terrorists, including
[Shamil] Basayev. Talks could be held with him if
he took people hostage and if it helped release
them. Under any other circumstances, talks with
him are impossible," Alexeyeva said.
AUSHEV CALLS ON MOSCOW TO SIT
DOWN FOR TALKS…
The Jamestown Foundation
CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on
the Crisis in Chechnya
16 February 2005 - Volume VI, Issue 7
In an interview with Novaya gazeta published on February 14, former Ingushetian President Ruslan
Aushev commented on Maskhadov's ceasefire
and call for peace talks. Asked whether he
thought the ceasefire was holding, Aushev
answered: "I believe that is a secondary issue.
First it is necessary to evaluate Maskhadov's call
for negotiations. And to assess it based on world
experience. If the Basques in Spain suddenly
called for negotiations. Or the Iraqis announced
to the American government: we are declaring a
moratorium and are halting attacks on your
forces. Do you think the Spanish or the
Americans would become indignant, as our
military and politicians are doing? See how the
world is now applauding what is going on at the
negotiating table in the Middle East!"
Aushev also argued that Maskhadov's influence is
greater today that it was in the past. "Several
years ago Maskhadov was influential within
Chechnya," he told the bi-weekly. "Now his
influence extends over the whole North Caucasus, inasmuch as organized resistance to
the policy of the federal center is growing
throughout the Caucasus. And for those people
who are coming out against that policy, it is
exactly Maskhadov who is a symbol. Was, is and
will be." Aushev added: "Don't belittle
Maskhadov with the assertion that he doesn't
control anything. Yes, there are many groups that
operate autonomously for a half a year at a time.
But there is a general tendency: all of these field
commanders recognize Maskhadov. Here's a
comparison for you. Even given the extremely
low, five-percent rating that Boris Yeltsin had
during the middle of his presidency, nobody
doubted his power and authority. If we want
peace in the Caucasus – precisely in the
Caucasus, and not only in Chechnya – then
negotiations must be conducted with the armed
resistance. There is no solution using force, there
is an idea that must be fought only with ideas, not
armies, tanks and planes. Maskhadov, I repeat, is
a symbol of this idea."
Aushev also suggested that negotiations with
Maskhadov may be a last chance, given the
character of the younger separatist fighters,
exemplified by Movsar Baraev, who led the
October 2002 hostage-taking raid on Moscow's
Dubrovka Theater, and Ruslan Khuchbarov, who
reputedly led the September 2004 Beslan school
hostage-taking raid. "The generation that grew up
during the war fanatically believes in an idea and
knows only how to fight," Aushev said.
"Conducting negotiations with them will be a
million times more complicated. It wasn't for
nothing that [former commander of the federal
forces in Chechnya Viktor] Kazantsev ordered
the detention of Chechnya's male population
from age 10 to 60… And another thing: don't
imagine the Khuchbarovs and Baraevs to be savages. There are many of them, they have been
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 63 ~
fighting all of their lives; they are politicians,
behind them is a young, aggressive ideology; they
are informed, technologically armed and are
growing."
Meanwhile, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said
in an interview with Interfax published on
February 10 that there is "absolutely no need to
negotiate with Maskhadov or his associates to
establish peace in Chechnya." "If Maskhadov and
his associates want peace for the people of
Chechnya, all they have to do is stop the terror
and surrender to the authorities," Alkhanov said.
"They know perfectly well where they should go
– the Prosecutor's Office or other law
enforcement agencies. The people of Chechnya
are tired of all this talk, they are determined
about the way of their development, they have
voted for the constitution, for unity with Russia."
On February 14, Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis told Ekho Moskvy while on
an official visit to Moscow that only negotiations
can end the bloodshed in the North Caucasus.
"The situation in Chechnya, in the Chechen
Republic, demands a political solution," he told
the radio station. "And such a solution can be
found through negations. This, of course, is not
an issue for the Council of Europe; it's an issue
that must be resolved by the Russian authorities."
…AND ZAKAEV CALLS ON BUSH TO
CHANGE HIS POLICY
Akhmed Zakaev wrote an op-ed piece published
in the International Herald Tribune on February
16 urging President George W. Bush to
reconsider his position vis-à-vis Chechnya prior
to his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in
Bratislava later this month.
"Three years ago, the U.S. president gave Putin
the green light for his plan of Chechen
pacification, which consisted of draconian
measures against the civilian population, the
installation of a puppet government and a
propaganda campaign in the West that portrayed
the Chechen independence movement as Islamic
terrorists," Zakaev wrote. "It is clear now that
the strategy did not work: The armed resistance
was not subdued, the population did not
embrace the Quisling government and courts in
Britain and the United States cleared Chechen
political figures, such as myself, of Russian
accusations of terrorism. The only outcome of
‘pacification' was the emboldening of radicals at
the expense of the moderate Chechen
leadership, leading to the outrage of Beslan and
the spread of militant ideology throughout the
Caucasus."
Maskhadov's unilateral ceasefire is "a unique
opportunity, perhaps the last, to break the
vicious circle of hatred, death and destruction,"
Zakaev wrote. "If it is lost, the responsibility for
the escalation of the conflict, further
radicalization of the Caucasus and the inevitable
increase of terrorism will go to those who
persist in the failed policy of appeasing Putin.
Bush should realize that his hands-off policy on
Chechnya does not increase security but only
breeds terror."
REBELS AND FEDS BATTLE OVER
CEASEFIRE
The Jamestown Foundation
CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on
the Crisis in Chechnya
16 February 2005 - Volume VI, Issue 7
Gen.-Major Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the
Russian military operation in the North
Caucasus, claimed on February 14 that Federal Security Service (FSB) and Interior Ministry
forces had carried out a special operation to
destroy a group of rebels, Interfax reported.
Shabalkin said the rebel group numbered up to
15 and was located along the administrative
border between the Shali and Groznensky rural
districts near the villages of Starye Atagi and
Novye Atagi. Six of the rebels were reportedly
killed and ten escaped. Shabalkin said the security
forces launched the operation after receiving
intelligence that a large rebel group was planning
attacks on federal military installations. "An
ambush was set up on the route along which the
bandits were likely to move," he said. "Around
00:30 on Monday, a group of fighters were
spotted. Federal forces went into action against
them. The band was dispersed. According to
preliminary information, around five militants
were killed."
Radio Liberty's Russian service reported later on
February 14 that seven militants were killed
during the operation near Starye Atagi, and that
two of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia. It also
reported that one Russian serviceman was killed
and six wounded in the fighting.
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov's
spokesman, Akhmed Zakaev, told Agence
France-Presse by telephone from London that
the federal forces had "provoked" the battle and
denied rebel forces had broken the unilateral
ceasefire that Maskhadov recently announced.
"We have not broken the ceasefire," Zakaev said.
"But there are constant provocations from the
Russian special services, as well as disinformation
being spread by the Russian army's press service.
They are trying to discredit our idea of a
ceasefire."
A spokesman for the Russian military operation
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 64 ~
in the North Caucasus also claimed on February
14 that rebels had attacked two cars carrying
federal troops in the Kurchaloi district village of
Akhkinchu-Borzoi but that none of the
servicemen were hurt. The spokesman said
spetsnaz that arrived at the scene spotted a
group of rebels numbering up to seven and killed
three of them, RIA Novosti reported.
The separatist Kavkazcenter website on February
15 commented on the reported Akhkinchu-
Borzoi attack: "What calls attention to itself is
the fact that while the Russian occupation
command earlier rejected all reports by the
Chechen side about mujahideen military
operations, stating that there is no war in
Chechnya, with President Maskhadov's
announcement of a moratorium on offensive
operations, the occupiers are now trying in every
way possible to stress that the war in Chechnya
is continuing. We recall that the Chechen armed forces command categorically rejected all
previous statements by the Russian side about
military clashes on Chechen territory."
The federal authorities have long charged that
Maskhadov exercises little or no control over the
separatist forces, and reports of separatist
fighters initiating attacks would give credence to
that assertion.
«There is no alternative to the Chechen
peace initiative»
Kavkaz-Centre
2005-02-19 01:21:13
In view of the peace initiative launched by the
President of CRI Aslan Maskhadov, the “Kavkaz-
Centre” news agency has conducted an interview
with the General Representative of the Chechen
President abroad Umar Khanbiyev.
“Kavkaz-Centre” publishes the answers of the
General Representative of the President of CRI
abroad.
Question: Many commentators and analysts have
already expressed their doubt that the Kremlin
regime will support the initiative of peace
negotiations with Chechnya . What is your
prognosis?
Umar Khanbiyev : Judging by the first morbid
reaction on the part of Russia, our optimism,
really, seems to be very illusive. However, this is
not new to us – we have already predicted such
trend of developments. President of CRI Aslan
Maskhadov noted in his conversation that he
guesses the “reaction of the hawks” of the
military clique and ambitious smatters at politics,
who, thanks to this war, have come into power
by chance”.
And he was right. Nevertheless, Maskahdov puts
trust in political goodwill of the President of
Russian Federation. That is why Maskhadov's
appeal is addressed to Putin, the person whose
reaction should be dictated by the judgment of
the sober-minded and responsible politician.
The Decree on appointment of the
Governmental delegation for contacts with the
Russian side, issued following the order on
temporary suspension of all kinds of offensive
actions on the territory of CRI and RF, is a
demonstration of Maskhadov's confidence that
Putin is able to take a reasonable step. And this
happens despite the fact that the Kremlin analysts
regard their president as a programmed man-
robot unable to take a clever move. I do not
understand to whom it is advantageous to have
such president. At any rate, it is advantageous
neither to the Chechens, nor to the Russians.
I share President Aslan Maskhadov's optimism
and I will do everything in my power to establish
contacts with the Russian side.
Question: Has the negotiating team been formed
to carry out talks with the Russian side?
Umar Khanbiyev: Yes. Such team has already
been formed and is looking forward to the
contacts from the Russian side. When the
Russian leadership clarifies itself, we will publish
the list of our delegation.
Question: If the Russian side abandons call, as it
always happened during the last five years, do
you have any alternative moves in store to force
Russia to take part in peace talks?
Umar Khanbiyev : Today's situation cardinally
differs from the circumstance in the past when
we suggested peace initiatives. The rapid and
impetuous processes taking place in the Caucasus
have changed the proportion of forces and the
prospects of the Kremlin to settle the political
problems by using force. Russia can put forward
no alternative to the Chechen peace initiative, if,
of course, the Russian authorities do not want to
destroy the statehood of Russia .
Question: The initiative of the PACE with regard
to the so-called “round table” on Chechnya to be
held in Moscow has lately been at the centre of
attention of the media. A number of Chechen
politicians and official representatives have
expressed their criticism with respect to the
PACE. In your opinion, what is the hidden motive
of the PACE initiative?
Umar Khanbiyev : The joint delegation of the
Parliament and Government of CRI expressed
their negative attitude to the mentioned initiative as far back as the autumn session of the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 65 ~
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
to stage any kind of “round tables”. “The round
table” in such a format as declared by Mr. Andres
Gross cannot have any positive influence on the
Russian-Chechen war. In our opinion, it is aimed
at imitation of the “concern” on the part of
PACE.
If Lord Judd was mistaken hoping that he would
have been able to bring the Russian-Chechen war
to the end by means of this kind of “round table”
in 2002, Mr. Gross insists on this and aggressively
rejects the fair censorious remarks. At the same
time, we have witnessed his attempts to stir up
opposition between the Chechen politicians.
I can state unambiguously that the “round table”
initiated by Gross for the benefit of the Kremlin
is recognized as inexpedient by the Chechen side
and was removed from the agenda in the autumn
of the past year.
The persistency of Mr. Gross astonishes me. He
was in search of contacts with me to invite me to
take part in his “round table' in Moscow . What
for? To all appearances, to tick off the items of
activities. We have invited them, but they refused
to take part in our action – Maskhadov and his
supporters do not want peace.
Question: In your opinion, what place is given to
the “Chechen question” in the policy of the
European countries today?
Umar Khanbiyev : It would be a mistake to judge
about the place of the “Chechen question” by
the public policy of the European countries. The
“Chechen question” has always been on the
agenda of the meetings with the Russian
leadership, with the rare exception. It has aleays
been the subject of the backstage talks. You
know the position of the European Parliament
that totally differs form the position of the PACE.
Besides that, we have well grounded hopes that
the UN, which, unfortunately, has bogged down
in corruption and cooperation with the
countries-outcasts, will not make us wait for its
positive attitude to the “Chechen question” for a
long time, after carrying out a reform inside the
organization.
About Reputation
Chechenpress, 03.03.05
Considering results of the unilateral armistice
declared by President Mashadov "The New
newspaper's" observer Anna Politkovskaya writes
:
"Mashadov's result consists, that fighting operations were deduced to the minimum, it is
the truth. But nevertheless they did not stop.
The freshest example: on February, 21, just
about the end of the armistice, there was a fight
and explosion in the destroyed building of the
former poultry farm in a settlement of the
Suburban October region of Groznyy,
destruction of nine military men of the 42 nd
motor-shooting division, the commander of
which, in traditions of the second war, publicly
swore to kill three insurgents for each "our" one.
Tit for tat - what kind of armistice is that?
February, 21, is an example of that… not the
whole party submits to Mashadov".
Politkovskaya has some strange logic here. We
admit that on February, 21, near the building of a
poultry farm there was a fight of some group of
the Resistance with invaders, as the result of
which nine "military men of the 42 nd motor-
shooting division" were lost. We shall agree
conditionally that this group of the Chechen fighters ignored the order of President Mashadov
on a suspension of offensive and diversive
actions. But whether it is possible to claim on the
basis of this UNIQUE example, that "the whole
party" observes conditions of the armistice? The
words "not the whole party” are resulted to
show, that Mashadov's order is broken not by
separate groups of Resistance, but with a
significant part of it. What part is it?
Many western and Russian observers including
Anna Politkovskaya, subdivide the Chechen
Resistance into two segments: "moderate"
(submitting to Mashadov) and "radical"
(submitting to Basaev). And if Mashadov's order
is broken with some significant part of the
Resistance, it is natural to assume, that this
disobedient part consists just of Basaev's groups.
However the matter is that for the first time it
became known about Mashadov's order from
Basaev's application, who doubled this order for
those groups, which submit directly to him, in
particular, for the battalion of kamikazes "Riyadus
Salihiyn" (The Gardens of the Just").
Such an expert in Chechen affairs, analyst Anna
Politkovskaya should know that, since the events
of the "Northeast", Shamil Basaev put down all
official military and political posts in the
structures of the CRI. And since autumn, 2002,
when his actions are contrary to orders of
President Mashadov, Shamil Basaev always openly
and publicly takes responsibility, as it was, for
example, during the events in Beslan, where
Anna Politkovskaya did not reach for the reason
that she had been poisoned in the plane (guess by
whom). And so for all last years after the
"Northeast" Shamil Basaev for the first time
enters into a commitment to observe the
moratorium declared by Mashadov on suspension offensive and diversive actions till
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 66 ~
February, 22. And whether in this unique case of
actions agreed with the Chechen President he
would begin to deceive, secretly sending his
fighters for attacks on invaders?
Such behavior is absolutely senseless. If Shamil
Basaev had intended to continue diversions and
attacks in days of the moratorium, he would have
declared about it, as a person, who was not
connected to Mashadov by any official
obligations, and struggling against Russians with
the same methods, which Russians apply in
destruction of Chechens. And if Basaev
promised, that he would observe the
moratorium, what benefit was for him to appear
before the Chechen fighters and the whole
Chechen people in the role of a person, who did
not keep his word? Whether lives of unfortunate
nine invaders, whom Russia with whole packs
drives to the slaughter to the Chechen Republic ,
cost such a “lose of personality” in opinion of Basaev? One should know nothing about the
Chechen mentality to assume such.
If president Mashadov is most interested in that
all groups of the Resistance observed his order
and, naturally, he would not begin to break it,
sending fighters for attacks on invaders, and if
Shamil Basayev does not have absolutely any
benefit to find reputation of "the artful person" in
opinion of Chechens, maybe, Anna Politkovskaya
should rummage in archives and see, what were
the very first realities of the Russian military
representatives from the place of destruction of
those nine invaders. If she has a lack of time, we
shall do it. So, this is a citation from the report of
"Interfax" for February, 22:
"In the settlement Suburban, near Groznyy, on
Monday evening 9 military men from
investigation unit of the 42 nd crew of the
Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
died and 3 of them received traumas as the result
of ruining of a wall of one of the houses.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, the
wall fell at an explosion of a mine-trap, which
some Russian soldiers touched unintentionally.
Six military men died at once, three of them died
on their way to hospital".
It is said about explosion here, but there is not
any word about "shooting". The "shooting" in the
Hankala realities appeared later, when the idea to
use this incident in propaganda purposes and to
try to discredit the Chechen President, "having
proved", that "the significant part" of "that party"
did not submit to Mashadov, breaking his orders,
came to the minds of Shabalkins. And it allows
the Kremlin inhabitants to wave away from
appeals to begin political dialogue with the
legitimate Chechen leader. "What dialogue are you talking about, if Mashadov supervises nothing
there"? And judging by Politkovskaya publication,
shabalkins have achieved the purpose, forcing the
respectful journalist to rush between two
mutually exclusive theses: "negotiations with
Mashadov are necessary"; "Mashadov does not
control the whole party”.
The explosive could have been incorporated by
anybody and whenever: realities of the Chechen
Republic are such, about what Politkovskaya also
writes. However, the statement constructed on
the fact of this explosion: that, ostensibly, "the
significant part of the Resistance does not submit
to Mashadov” should not be considered to be
the proof of journalistic objectivity. Shabalkins,
putins and tauses dzhabrailovs can speak, what
they want, they are not considered to be anyone
serious. But Anna Politkovskaya very uneasily, in
literal sense with risk for her life has extracted
the reputation of a fair journalist. And whether it
is necessary to undermine this reputation with superficial and poorly proved charges?
Meanwhile, in order to clear up the situation
with the armistice and in what habitual
provocative way "this party" (that is the "party"
of Putin's gangs, murderers and terrorists) has
reacted to it, we shall result only three reports,
the reliability of which Politkovskaya, with her
old connections in the Chechen Republic, can
easily check up (one of these reports she cites in
the mentioned article).
The first report:
The ORCHD in the press release No 1152 of
February, 11, 2005 , informs that on February,7,
in the evening a group of unknown people
moving by the car “Niva” attacked an
occupational block post situated in the
settlement Gerzel-aul at the administrative
border of the Chechen Republic with the
Republic of Dagestan . As the result of the attack
one of the employees of the pro-Moscow militia,
who was on duty on the post, was killed, four
people were wounded.
And the automobile "Niva" from which the block
post with national-traitors was shot, several
hours earlier was noticed in other settlements of
the Gudermes region of the Chechen republic. In
particular, about 15 o'clock inhabitants of the
settlement Novogroznyy, situated near the
settlement Noibera of the Gudermes region,
saw, how the given automobile accompanied by
two "UAZ" and cars "Ural" was going in direction
of the regional center Gudermes. Local residents
report, that the military techniques of the
invaders was full of Russian chastisers. People
managed to remember the face of one provoker
going in the "Niva". It was a man with a red beard. After an hour all four cars were noticed in
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 67 ~
the regional centre Gudermes. In one and a half
hour the people in a car "Niva", made an attack
on the Gerzelskiy post.
The second report:
According to the correspondent of the
Chechenpress, on February, 21 in the Groznyy-
rural region of the CHRI at the entrance to the
settlement Gikalo employees of the puppet
"militias of the Chechen Republic " detained two
Russian terrorists mortgaging a mine on the
road.
The employees of puppet militia going on the line
Groznyy - Shatoi, noticed two invaders pottering
about opposite to the turn to the settlement
Gikalo, which was near the former state farm
"Teplichnyy". Puppets decided to check up, what
the invaders were engaged with, and caught them
literally for a hand during mortgaging of a mine. Both terrorists were detained, slightly processed
with butts, and brought to the regional
department of militia of the Groznyy-rural
region, where this detention and its
circumstances were written down.
Employees of puppet militia openly speak, that
the Russian terrorists were going to make a
provocation: to undermine inhabitants of the
settlement Gikalo, and then through Shabalkin to
accuse the fighters of the Resistance of this
crime, - that they, ostensibly, not only do not
observe the moratorium declared by
A.Mashadov, but also "undermine peace
inhabitants".
Meanwhile, colleagues of the detained terrorists,
having learned about their destiny, immediately
went to the regional department of militia to get
them out of there. However that day, on
February, 21, militiamen did not release the
invaders. But it is possible, that now they are
released, as after such detentions, following the
order from above, the puppet militiamen should
relieve Russian military criminals.
The third report:
The inhabitants of the regional centre Vedeno
report, that on February, 20, near the regional
centre Vedeno, Kadyrov's gangsters detained two
Russian terrorists mortgaging a mine at the
roadside. Both invaders were severely beaten by
Kadyrov's gangsters and taken to the base in
Hosi-Yurt.
According to the local residents, both invaders
were sent from Shali commandant's office for this
provocative purpose. Before taking them to the
base, Kadyrov's gangsters showed the invaders to the local residents. We shall remind that
Kadyrov's supporters replaced Yamadaev's
supporters in this area about one month ago, and
with such actions try "to please" the inhabitants
of the region, whom they terrorize day and night.
Adlan Beno
Chechen Separatist Leader Outlines Peace
Terms in RFE/RL Interview
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
(Prague, Czech Republic--March 4, 2005)
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov, one
of the most wanted men in Russia, says a 30-
minute meeting with Russian President Vladimir
Putin would be enough to stop the decade-long
conflict in Chechnya. In an interview with Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty, he gave a broad
outline of peace terms he said could be
acceptable to both sides.
Maskhadov made the statement in response to
written questions posed by RFE/RL's North
Caucasus Service. Maskhadov's answers, in both
the Chechen and Russian languages, were
received today (Friday) via the Internet.
He said it is his firm belief that Putin is getting
bad information about the situation in Chechnya
from his commanders and does not really know
what is going on. Maskhadov said: "We have been
suggesting that a 30-minute fair, face-to-face
dialogue should be enough to stop this war, to
explain to the president of the Russian
Federation what the Chechen people do want--
I'm sure he doesn't even know that--and also to
hear from Putin personally what he wants, what
Russia wants in Chechnya."
Maskhadov said a peace dialogue could begin
with agreement on the following points:
"guaranteeing the security of the Chechen people
and protecting Russia's regional and defense
interests in the North Caucasus. If we are able to
open the eyes of our opponents, the Russian
leaders, peace can be established."
Asked about the extent of his authority in
Chechnya, Maskhadov said: "I don't think that
there are any units on Chechen territory that
would ignore my orders. I don't think there are
such units in Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-
Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkessia either. This
not just empty talk but reality. All military units
on Chechen territory and in the neighboring
countries are under the subordination of
Chechen resistance."
The Russian government has labeled Maskhadov
a terrorist and refused to deal with him. It
promises to pay a $10.3 million reward for his capture. Maskhadov was elected president of
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 68 ~
Chechnya in 1997 and removed from power in
fierce fighting with the invading Russian army in
1999.
RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service broadcasts 2
hours of programming a day in the Avar,
Chechen and Circassian languages to the North
Caucasus region, produced in Prague and
transmitted to listeners via satellite and
shortwave transmission. North Caucasus Service
programming is also available via the Internet, at
www.rferl.org.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private,
international communications service to Eastern
and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus,
Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southwest
Asia, funded by the U.S. Congress through the
Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Chechen Leader Ready For Dialogue, But
Says Rebels Will Fight to End If Necessary
Tbilisi Chechenpress WWW-Text in Russian 04
Mar 05
[Interview with Chechen rebel President Aslan
Maskhadov, entitled "Aslan Maskhadov: 'The
Chechen mojahedin will fight to the end in this
war'"]
[Excerpt] CRI [Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]
President Aslan Maskhadov replies to questions
put by correspondents of world news agencies,
including Chechen agencies.
[Maskhadov] [passage omitted: greetings in
Chechen] I will try with great pleasure to answer
the questions put by the representatives of the
news agencies.
[Question] Regarding your latest peace initiative,
what was behind your last approach to the
Russian leaders, calling on them to sit down at
the conference table? What were you hoping for?
[Maskhadov] It seems to me that the president of
the Russian Federation has been profoundly led
astray, and the people to blame are, first and
foremost, his special services, the federal troop
generals, his closest advisors and, especially, his
local puppets. It is my profound conviction that
[Vladimir] Putin just doesn't realize what is really
going on in Chechnya today. There is a
legitimized practice in the army to tell your chief
he wants to hear. It looks like this is the way it is
in the Russian special services. This is very easy
when there is complete censorship of the media.
When I was an officer in the Soviet army I never
had any respect for those leaders who were
satisfied with this - pardon the expression - "crap".
And I never associated with those subordinates
who were inclined to play up to such leaders
because it was mainly the cause and the combat
readiness of the troops that suffered from this.
Well, you can imagine what worthwhile things a
national traitor in the rank of a deputy prime
minister who has two classes of education and, as
the esteemed [journalist Anna] Politkovskaya
says, no brains at all, might report or propose.
We believe that 30 minutes of honest dialogue
face to face is enough to stop this war and to
explain to the president of the Russian
Federation what the Chechens want - I am
certain that he doesn't know this - and to hear
from Putin's own lips what he wants and what
Russia wants in Chechnya. And we don 't know
this either. To get this dialogue going all that is
needed is to think about the following: Ichkeria
requires a guarantee of the security of the Chechen people and Russia the protection of its
regional and defence interests in the North
Caucasus. If we are able to open the eyes of our
opponents, the Russian leaders, this war can be
stopped.
[Question] You have declared a moratorium on
offensive combat operations. Has this
moratorium been observed or not? Has your
order been carried out?
[Maskhadov] I don't believe there are units on
Chechen territory who would ignore my order.
In my opinion, there are not even such units in
Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabarda-Balkaria and
Karachayev-Cherkessia. These are not empty
words, simply the way things are. All the fighting
units in Chechnya and in the neighbouring
republics are subordinate to the leaders of the
Chechen Resistance. If the moratorium had been
declared from both the warring sides, there
would probably be no problems and the order
would have been fulfilled precisely. But in this
instance, by declaring a moratorium on hostilities
from our side I was compelled to give additional
instructions from the point of view of ensuring
their own security.
Imagine the situation. A moratorium has been
declared from the Chechen side but the opposite
side carries out special operations and cleansing.
And this is precisely what happened. For
example, this is what happened on 21 February in
a suburb of Groznyy. In a house where there
were mojahedin troops were brought in with the
aim of cordoning off this area. I was told about
this straightaway and I was forced to issue an
order to the amir to act according to the
situation, which is what he did. He withdrew to
prepared positions placing mines in the house, and when the federal troops occupied the house
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 69 ~
he blew it up. There were far more dead bodies
in there than those officially declared but our
mojahedin got away without losses. As you can
see, there could have been no victims if the
politicians had had enough common sense to
realize one thing: there can be no solution to the
conflict by force. Nobody will "flush out" anyone
- this is complete nonsense. There can be no
winners in this war. Anyone who doesn't
understand this is not living in the real world.
[Question] Are you really certain that a war is
going on in other republics of the North
Caucasus?
[Maskhadov] Yes, I am. At the beginning of this
war I urged all the leaders of the North Caucasus
to get together in opposing this war. I was sure
that if they all said "no" to this war then the
Russians would not dare start another military
adventure. But only two leaders agreed with me - the former governor of Krasnodar Territory
[Nikolay] Kondratenko and the esteemed
[former Ingush President] Ruslan Aushev. The
remainder did not want to spoil their relations
with the future President Putin.
This servile psychology has done its work. I
warned these leaders that the war would enter
their homes, too. At the start of this war we
waited in Ruslan Aushev's office exactly three
hours for Putin to arrive when he was prime
minister. And we left when he telephoned to say
that [former Russian President Boris] Yeltsin
would not allow him to come. In my opinion this
was an excuse. We recall Yeltsin's words at the
beginning of this war: "You will not go as far as
war!" Yeltsin did not want this war because he
was fed up with the disgrace of it.
Already at the beginning of this war it was clear
that it was impossible to keep it within the
Chechen borders. Exactly the same punitive
operations as in Chechnya had begun in
Ingushetia, Dagestan, North Ossetia and
Kabarda-Balkaria. The FSB and the federal troops
imposed this war on all these republics. There
was no need to blame [Usama] Bin Ladin or al-
Qa'ida for this. I am sure that Bin Ladin had
never even seen these republics on the map.
After that we were forced to widen the front of
the military resistance. I issued orders to form
additional sectors: the Ingush, Kabarda-Balkaria,
Dagestani and other sectors. Amirs were
appointed to all these sectors and today they are
all subordinate to the military leadership of the
Chechen Resistance.
[Question] What ideals are you guided by in such
a powerful opposition to Russia? What is the
objective of your struggle?
[Maskhadov] Our idea is to save our people from
Russian tyranny and barbarity, and we will
consider our aim to have been achieved if we
deprive Russia of the right to kill Chechen people
in the future with impunity. And in what form of
a settlement to the problem of mutual relations
between Chechnya and Russia this security will
be guaranteed we are prepared to sit down and
discuss at the conference table with the
participation of any international experts. There
are times when we wonder why Moscow is
constantly hinting that Chechnya is Russia's
"internal problem". But there has not been a
single speech by the Russian defence minister
where he does not speak about military
intervention from outside, and in each military
clash between the Russian power-wielders and
the Chechen mojahedin a mercenary from al-
Qa'ida is bound to figure. So we don't
understand: is Chechnya is an "internal problem"
or a repulse of aggression from outside? And why are foreign politicians and Russian politicians, too,
embarrassed to call this problem an international
one?
[Question] What do you think are the ideals that
guide Putin in waging the war in Chechnya?
[Maskhadov] I will try to answer this question,
too. At first glance one wonders what is the
point of such ambitious persistence of the
Russian politicians and military with regard to
Chechnya. They are always telling us that if
Chechnya goes Russia will crumble and "Islamic
extremism" will spread throughout the North
Caucasus. One has to ask oneself: is this defence
of Russia's territorial integrity or the defence of
Russia's regional and defence interests? Let's look
at it from the other side: has the six-year bloody
war in Chechnya served as a pretext for
defending Russia 's interests in the Balkans, in
Afghanistan, in Central Asia, the Near East,
Georgia and, finally, Ukraine?
Note that the territory of Chechnya is only
17,000 square kilometres. While Russia has been
waging a war in Chechnya the Chinese have been
occupying the whole of Maritime Territory and
Transbaykal Region and Russia will soon be
forced to give the Kurile islands back to the
Japanese. So whose interests are the generals
defending in Chechnya? On the contrary, are
they not playing into the hands of their
opponents?
[Question] They say that taking your relatives
hostage forced you to issue the unilateral order
to bring hostilities to a stop.
[Maskhadov] That wasn't the case. What is the
difference - my relatives or the relatives of my mojahedin who met the same fate a long time
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 70 ~
ago? What will change from all this if my relatives
follow theirs? They are all the same to us. The
Almighty will reward everyone for what they
have done and for their part in this holy war.
There is not a single mojahedin with us today
who will submit to these dirty subterfuges of our
enemies and national traitors, because God has
rewarded us with restraint. And the most
valuable thing is that a mojahedin, whenever his
sister or wife is taken hostage, comes to us and
asks the question: does he have the right to do
the same? And we always say to him: God does
not permit this. So who is the terrorist or the
bandit, one asks? Let them take these labels and
hang them on their generals.
[Question] What long-term prospect do you see
for Russia and Chechnya if they still don't sit
down and talk in the next century?
[Maskhadov] The war will go on. I can say for certain that the Chechen mojahedin will fight to
the end in this struggle, and the flames of this
war will embrace the whole of the North
Caucasus. The Russian people will constantly
experience the fear of possible retribution from
the Shahid suicide bombers in revenge for all the
atrocities of the FSB and the federal troops in
Chechnya. If today's Russian politicians do not
have enough common sense to stop this war,
others will take their place in the future who will
stop it, but with great ignominy. We have plenty
of patience. Thank God, the Almighty has not
deprived us of tolerance! When the interests of
the western powers and Russia in the Caucasus
specifically collide, when the leaders of the
western states realize that degree of danger
which comes from Russia for the whole civilised
world, then everyone will queue up to ask us
Chechens to agree to stop this war. We can
wait.
[Question] What role do you think the West is
playing in this war?
[Maskhadov] The West is biding its time, playing
with Putin, trying to solve its global strategic
tasks - regional problems, energy problems, and
so on. And the Russian leadership today, taking
advantage of this, continues to commit
monstrous crimes on Chechen territory. You
have probably heard what Putin said recently:
"You are fighting in Iraq, killing Muslims, so why
can' t we do this in Chechnya?" Or, for example,
this was something else he said: You hold
elections in Afghanistan in order to control
things there. We are holding similar elections in
Chechnya. Why can't we?"
Well, imagine the peoples of the Caucasus, Iraq,
Afghanistan - they can be killed, too. Somebody can be appointed. In other words, these people
have been turned into animals. Today there is no
opposition to the violation of human rights and
freedoms of whole peoples. And therefore small
peoples regretfully are left with only one thing -
to take up arms and defend their rights and their
freedom.
[Question] This forthcoming "roundtable
meeting" - what will it bring? Will your
representatives be at this forum?
[Maskhadov] This is a ridiculous undertaking of
Andreas Gross, a PACE [Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe] deputy. I don't want to
call him a spokesman for the MPs in Chechnya.
He will plant national traitors at the "roundtable
meeting" in Moscow as Chechens who are
chronically afraid who will find themselves in a
state of shock if one word about the war being
stopped is uttered.. And on the other side will sit
nationalists like [leader of left-nationalist Motherland faction Dmitriy] Rogozin who also
stand up for this war. Well, perhaps, another two
or three stray MPs from the Ichkerian
parliament. But there will be none of my
representatives there because this is a job for a
jackdaw, and there will be no calm on Chechen
soil as a result of it. I am confident of that.
[Question] The bandit formations that have been
breeding on Chechen territory today - they call
themselves power-wielders, special services,
police. How do you see them?
[Maskhadov] I think that Putin's flirting with the
national traitors is a repeat of what happened in
the past, in other words the same as happened in
the first war. In the first war, or before it, there
was an opposition - the bands of [Ruslan]
Labazanov, [Beslan] Gantamirov, [Akhmed]
Avturkhanov and others. They were well armed
with all kinds of weapons including tanks and
helicopter gunships. Even those had brains, at
least they had some idea, for example: the
Chechens cannot live without Russia; if Russia
stops their pensions then the Chechens will die
from hunger. There was fighting against this
opposition and I took part in all these skirmishes.
But these clashes never reached the point of a
prolonged confrontation. Why? Because history
must teach us something.
The Chechens have never fought among
themselves and they never will. There is a clear
understanding how a Chechen should behave
from this side and the other side during a forced
clash. I am thinking about this now. Not a single
self-respecting Chechen policeman or, as they
are called there - special servicemen, will refuse
to help the mojahedin. Why? Because they know
what will be the outcome of this whole military adventure, and they know that tomorrow they
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 71 ~
will have to answer, and they know that
tomorrow we will have to live together. And
there will be nowhere to run to.
I had to speak up about this, and I am probably
not saying everything. Once again we learn the
lessons of the history of the last war, the
Caucasian war, of Beybulat Taymilev [Chechen
who was an associate of Pushkin and renowned
for his bravery and compassion]and others.
Sometimes we presented them with the ranks of
ensign, standard-bearer, and Taymilev won an
appeal from Tsarist execution, but he never
forgot that he was a Chechen because he was a
brave man.
Yes, [FSB Director Nikolay] Patrushev hoped
that he would be able to provoke a civil war in
Chechnya, and he still hopes to reassure the
president of this. But the realities show us that
the reverse is the case - there is no civil war, no fierce confrontation between the Chechens, and
nor will there be. In other words, they will not
get the result they want. But then the lab el of
bandit, which was prepared by Patrushev for the
Chechen mojahedin, has already been fixed by
the whole world on the Kremlin's puppet
administration. That means payback time, and
nothing else.
Thank you for your attention!
Information and analysis center of the president
of the CRI
3 March 2005
Kavkaz-Center: Maskhadov orders the
resistance to suspend attacks
February 2nd 2005
(Prague Watchdog, published at 17:54 GMT,
updated at 00:36 GMT) - As a gesture of
goodwill, Chechen resistance leader Aslan
Maskhadov ordered all resistance units to
suspend attacks both within Chechnya as well as
outside its borders as of February, announced
the propaganda website Kavkaz-Center this
evening.
According to the Kavkaz-Center, following
Maskhadov's order the influential Chechen
guerrilla commander, Shamil Basayev, who uses
terrorist tactics to fight what he calls Russian
terrorism, ordered his units to also suspend
attacks until February 22.
Kavkaz-Center stated that Maskhadov signed the
order on January 14. Maskhadov's envoy in
Europe, Akhmed Zakayev, was not immediately
available for comment. Websites close to the
Chechen resistance have only quoted Kavkaz-Center's text. Russian officials have not
commented on the information as yet.
Maskhadov was democratically elected President
of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
on January 27, 1997. After the Russian military
re-entered Chechnya in 1999, his political
influence gradually diminished, but he still
controlled part of the resistance and for some
Chechens, he still remains a symbol of their
independence from Russia.
In December 2004, Maskhadov's eight relatives,
including two brothers and a sister, were
kidnapped in Chechnya and are still missing.
Human rights defenders accused units
subordinate to Ramzan Kadyrov (self-styled
Moscow-backed Chechen vice-premier) of the
kidnappings. And several days ago Chechen
authorities finally started a criminal prosecution
of this abduction case.
In the past, Maskhadov repeatedly called for a
ceasefire, but Russia kept accusing him of
terrorism and rejecting any idea of "peace talks"
to end the conflict in Chechnya. Russia also
criticised and exerted pressure on the
supporters of such talks. It also rejected some
proposals for broader international involvement
to solve the conflict.
In autumn 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) announced its plan
to hold what it called "a round table" on the
conflict in Chechnya. However, at Russia's
request, representatives of "separatists and
terrorists" were excluded from the meeting,
which cast serious doubts on the very idea of
such talks. Recently, it was decided that the
meeting should take place in Moscow, probably
in March.
The first Chechen war, which started in 1994,
was ended by the Khasavyurt agreements, signed
by Mashkadov and Russian General Aleksander
Lebed in August 1996. However, Chechnya
maintained its independence only for three
turbulent years before the Russian army invaded
it again.
Maskhadov almost ideally outplayed
Moscow
Chechen Times - 3.02.2005
President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Aslan Maskhadov ordered to unilaterally stop all
forms of military activity of an offensive
character. In accordance with the order, the
armed forces of the Chechen Resistance halt all
forms of military activity – both on the territory
of Chechnya and Russia. The corresponding
document was signed on January 14, 2005, but has not been published until recently.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 72 ~
However, there are no grounds to doubts its
existence, since Umar Khanbiyev, General Envoy
to the President of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria to Foreign Countries, almost
immediately commented on it. He described this
step from the Chechen side a demonstration of
good will and an invitation to the Russian side to
end the war at the table of political negotiations.
Besides, according to Khanbiyev, such order
unambiguously shows that the armed units of the
Resistance aren’t “fragmented groups”, but well-
guided armed formations, subordinated to the
commander-in-chief and controlled by him.
The unilateral truce is valid until February 22,
2005, and gives Russian military a serious matter
for reflection. February 23 – is another
anniversary of the Stalin deportation of
Chechens. As a rule, Russian military analysts have always linked this date to a possible increase
in military activity of the Resistance, but their
“prognoses” have never come up to
expectations. Now everything says that the date
when the truce offered by the Chechen side ends
was chosen not accidentally and in fact “the
demonstration of good will” contains an
unambiguous hint to the Russian side.
Moscow’s reaction can easily be foreseen: it is
likely to ignore the offer, because it is ready
neither to discuss peace speaking the language of
“good will” nor the language of “latent threats.”
Most probably, the Kremlin will increase the
intensity of military actions and reppressions in
Chechnya – with a maniacal stubbornness it still
considers any idea of negotiations only “a trick of
rebel fighters searching a possible respite.”
Today Moscow is not interested in a possible
deterioration of the situation in Chechnya, and
first of all because of the scheduled PACE’s
“round table” on “the Chechen problem” which
is to help Moscow stop any mentioning of related
military activities, genocide and instability. The
same goal is pursued by “The agreement on
delimitation of powers” between Russia and
Chechnya, which in fact admits that “the
Chechen Republic is in the conditions of a special
economic, social and ecological plight.”
And in this respect we can say that Maskhadov
almost ideally outplayed Moscow, demonstrating
his aspirations for peace. “Almost” – is because
he has repeatedly said that in the Chechen
Resistance there are groups which he cannot
control, which act on their own, the methods of
which he does not like and are even forbidden
for the Ichkerian armed forces and prosecuted.
Clearly, this situation will enable Moscow to
press standard charges against Maskhadov saying
either he “personally gives orders to terrorists,”
or “has no influence on rebel fighters.” The first
is possible only if the Chechen side observes the
truce. The second – if military actions will
continue. Nonetheless, repeatedly voicing its
aspirations for a dialog, the Chechen side looks
much more convincing and Maskhadov’s latest
order – is a bright evidence of that.
“President” Alkhanov has also commented on
this order, saying — as usual – he is not going
“to conduct talks with Maskhadov,” traditionally
“forgetting” that the Chechen Resistance has
never considered him or his predecessor as a
negotiating side.
Besides, it seems Alkhanov has certain doubts
about his own legitimacy. We see it from the
following statement: “We do not deny that
Maskhadov was publicly elected, but he was the President of Ichkeria, while Kadyrov – was the
President of the Chechen Republic. Maskhadov
can call himself the president neither morally, nor
legally.” And only this phrase absolutely clearly
shows that in Chechnya Russia is struggling not
against “international terrorism” but the
Chechens’ legitimate aspirations for
Independence.
Moscow denounces Maskhadov's ceasefire
order
February 3rd 2005
(Prague Watchdog) - Chechen resistance leader
Aslan Maskhadov's order for a ceasefire in
February was denounced today by Russian and
Moscow-backed Chechen officials as being
nothing but a trick. However, Maskhadov's
Western European envoys said the order once
again shows goodwill on the part of the Chechen
resistance and their willingness to start political
talks to resolve the conflict.
Alu Alkhanov, whom Moscow installed as
President of the Chechen Republic in rigged
elections last August, said today that Maskhadov's
order to unilaterally stop attacks is "a
propaganda trick", adding that Maskhadov never
fulfilled a single promise he made.
"This is all just a bluff, a provocation, and an
attempt to draw attention to themselves,” said
Taus Jabrailov, chairman of the Chechen State
Council, a body created by Moscow before
parliamentary elections could be held in
Chechnya.
Conversely, Umar Khambiyev, Maskhadov's
foreign envoy, was quoted today by Chechenpress, a Chechen internet news agency
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 73 ~
close to the resistance as saying, "The ceasefire
order is a demonstration of goodwill and an
invitation to the Russians to stop the war and
start political negotiations... We hope that there
will be political goodwill in Russia and that they
will take adequate steps so that this long and
bloody war can be over."
Speaking today on Ekho Moskvy, a Russian radio
station, Maskhadov's envoy Akhmad Zakayev
confirmed the existence of the order and
explicitly ruled out that it is somehow linked to
the fact that two months ago Maskhadov's eight
relatives, including two brothers and a sister,
were kidnapped in Chechnya.
He added that discussions about this order were
underway a long time ago and are linked with the
planned meeting between Maskhadov’s
representatives and those of the human rights
organization Committee of Mothers of Russian Soldiers. "Maskhadov signed the order in
connection with the meeting to show goodwill,"
Zakayev stated during the radio interview. It
should be noted that the meeting, aimed at the
onset of the peace process, was to take place in
Belgium at the end of last year, but the
Committee members were denied EU visas after
Russia exerted pressure on Belgian authorities.
"Every Chechen resistance force is interested in
ending the war; and this was demonstrated by all
the forces, including the radical wing, Basayev,"
Zakayev told the Caucasus Times, a Prague-based
internet news agency.
The information that Chechen resistance leader
Aslan Maskhadov ordered all his units to suspend
attacks both within Chechnya as well as outside
its borders as of February was published by the
Kavkaz-Center news agency on Wednesday
evening.
Ruslan Aushev: «The War Is Leaving Us
Behind»
Kavkaz-Center
2005-02-17 01:03:23
If we don't reach a settlement with Maskhadov
now, he will be replaced by people who only
know how to wage war
Ruslan Sultanovich! Is a moratorium on military
operations declared by Maskhadov currently in
force in Chechnya?
It is very difficult to give a simple answer to that
question. After all, what you are asking is: does
Maskhadov control the forces of resistance in
Chechnya, or doesn't he? I think that's a
secondary question.
First one must assess Maskhadov's call for
negotiations. And assess it from the perspective
of the world's experience. If the Basques in Spain
suddenly called for negotiations, or if the Iraqis
said to the American government: we are
declaring a moratorium and will stop attacking
your troops – do you think the Spanish or the
Americans would be indignant, as our military
and politicians are? I mean, look how the world is
applauding what is taking place on the negotiating
table in the Middle East!
And yet the question of Maskhadov's real
influence is very important…
I will put it this way. A few years ago Maskhadov
was influential within the confines of Chechnya.
Now his influence extends to the whole of the
North Caucasus, as throughout the entire
Caucasus an organized resistance to the policy of
the Federal Center is spreading. And for those people who are coming out against that policy,
it's Maskhadov who is the symbol. He was, he is,
and he will be.
What if one imagines the improbable: for the
sake of peaceful aims Maskhadov meets the
Kremlin's principal demand. Surrenders. What
would happen then?
In the first place, he will never surrender.
Maskhadov should not be humiliated with the
assertion that he doesn't control anything. Yes,
there are many groupings there which act
autonomously for up to six months or so. But
the general tendency is that all those field
commanders recognize Maskhadov, Here's a
comparison for you. Even with the extremely
low five percent rating Boris Yeltsin had in the
middle of his presidency, no one ever called his
power and authority into doubt. If we want
peace in the Caucasus, in the Caucasus, that is,
and not only in Chechnya, then negotiations must
be opened with the armed resistance. There is
no solution that involves force, there is an idea
which can only be fought with an idea, not with
an army, tanks and planes. Maskhadov, I repeat, is
a symbol of that idea.
For whom are negotiations disadvantageous?
For those who talk of negotiations as of
something shameful, unacceptable and
unproductive. Those who try to frighten people
with recent history – the Khasavyurt agreements.
To me, as a direct participant in those events, it's
obvious that Khasavyurt is being mythologized
and dealt with in the wrong way. Those were
FORCED actions. We (yes, we!) were driven
into a corner. In the first place, the guerrillas
entered Grozny and blocked off the Federal forces, Pulikovsky even wanted to bomb both his
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 74 ~
own men and others.
Then, at the request of Alexander Lebed, I flew
to see Maskhadov and Yandarbiyev and tried to
get them to withdraw the guerrillas, and I only
just succeeded. In the second place, Yeltsin and
Co. had elections coming up. ..
The time when our military men said that
negotiations were treason, that would not allow
them to settle the Chechen question by means of
force, has passed. Since 1999 no one has
restrained our military men, and the political
message has been simply one of force. And what
do we see? Have they got anywhere close to a
settlement of the Caucasus problem?
Negotiations are also disadvantageous to the
Chechen leadership. In general, we are wasting
time, when each day, each month are important.
We don't have any time left. The war is leaving
us behind, and the question is who will bring the detonator to the Caucasus.
Are influential personalities similar to Maskhadov
and Basayev appearing among the armed
resistance?
Nature abhors a vacuum. Who knew Movsar
Barayev? Or Ruslan Khuchbarov? They are not
ordinary executors…
Well yes, the executors… I talked in Beslan with
that "executor" Khuchbarov. I saw his eyes,
heard what he was saying. He's a representative
of an idea, he knew perfectly well what he was
going to do and why he was going to do it. He's
not just a robot, an automaton… Even if
Maskhadov and Basayev give themselves up, their
place will be taken by the Khuchbarovs and
Barayevs.
The generation that grew up during the war
fanatically believes in an idea and only knows how
to wage war It will be a million times harder to
conduct negotiations with them. It's not for
nothing that Kazantsev ordered the male
population of Chechnya aged 10-60 to be
arrested and detained…
And also: it's wrong to picture the huchbarovs
and Barayevs as savages. There are many of
them, they fight and struggle all their lives, they
are politicians, they have behind them a young,
aggressive ideology, they are informed,
technologically armed, and they are growing.
Ruslan Sultanovich! How do you react to the
awarding to Zyazikov of the Order "For Services
to the Fatherland" – after Beslan?
With calm. The President of Russia knows better than I do the services for which he hands out
awards…
But the President of Ingushetia has one obvious
"service" before all Russia – cowardice… I have
promised myself not to say anything on the
subject of the new Ingush leadership. I want to
add that for the whole Afghan about seventy of
us got the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. In
Russia already two hundred people have become
heroes. For what?
Yelena Milashina
Novaya Gazeta
Former Groznyy Commandant Says
Guerrillas' Truce Hoax
MOSCOW. Feb 22, 2005 (Interfax-AVN) -
Recent remarks by Chechen extremist leaders
calling for a "truce" are nothing more than a
hoax, former Grozny commandant Colonel General Arkady Baskayev told Interfax-Military
News Agency on Tuesday.
"The guerillas have announced now that they are
finalizing the 'truce,' which, by the way, was not
and could not have been true - there are always
human casualties, including today. Thus, the
widely advertised 'moratorium' on hostilities was
nothing more than a hoax," said Baskayev, who is
also a member of the State Duma's security
committee.
"We have only once believed their so-called
'peaceful' calls. When I ws the commandant in
Chechnya, Maskhadov (separatist leader Aslan
Maskhadov - Interfax-AVN) also alleged that they
were stopping military activities. But at the same
time, he was regrouping his forces, and after that
everything started anew," Baskayev stressed.
"Rather, 'the peaceful initiatives' of these
terrorists should cause our concern. Most likely,
terrorists are trying to use a 'peaceful PR
campaign' to prepare for their next atrocity and
get a respite," he said.
"In fact, Maskhadov and his associates have had
plenty of opportunities to stop this pointless
massacre, and today all of them still have a
chance to surrender," Baskayev said.
According to him, Chechen guerillas are no
longer able to counter the legitimate authorities
by force. The only thing left to them is to take
revenge and make pinpoint strikes. Militant
activities will be escalated soon, he stressed.
"We should take into account that spring is
coming soon, trees will have leaves in the
mountains, and bandits will scale up activities to work out sponsors' money," Baskayev added.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 75 ~
Chechen Rebels Threaten To Resume
Actions as Ceasefire Ends
Moscow Ekho Moskvy Radio in Russian 1000
GMT 22 Feb 05
[Presenter, leading in from previous report] Back
to events in the Chechen war, where soldiers are
dying. Today is the last day of the temporary
cease-fire. Here is Andrey Gavrilov on how it
was observed and what we can expect in
Chechnya tomorrow.
[Correspondent] The rebels have been observing
Aslan Maskhadov's order for a unilateral cease-
fire for nearly one month. This is affirmed not
only by spokesmen for the separatist leader but
also by the Chechnya Interior Ministry. Human-
rights activists are urging President Putin to
negotiate with the separatist leader, but he has
remained silent. The [pro-Moscow] Chechen leader, Alu Alkhanov, is ruling out any talks with
the separatists, who [he says], are acting against
their own people. Instead, he suggests that they
turn themselves in.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the North Caucasus
HQ, Ilya Shabalkin, has reported that troops have
once again tracked down and destroyed a group
of rebel fighters. It is worth noting that when it
comes to any kind of action against federal forces
in Chechnya, the federals have had virtually
nothing to say.
The month is up. What next? If Russia does not
provide a proper response, then the rebels will
resume operations against federal forces, a
spokesman for the separatist leader, Usman
(?Farzuli), told our radio station.
[Farzuli] To us, Russia has been unpredictable
recently. It treats Chechens in general with
unjustifiable cruelty. So if no appropriate moves
are made by 2400 hours by the Russian
Federation, then groups of fighters, by which I
mean the army of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria, will carry out planned combat
operations to expel the aggressor from the
independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
[Correspondent] Fighting could break out in
Chechnya with renewed force as early as
tomorrow, when the temporary cease-fire order
expires. Anticipating this, the republic's police
have been on alert from several days. Additional
checkpoints have appeared on roads, and all
important installations are under 24-hour guard.
[Presenter] Tomorrow is a special day in
Chechnya for another reason. 23 February is the
anniversary of the most tragic event in the history of the Chechens and also the Ingush. In
1948, these two nations were deported on
Stalin's orders. Many died.
WHO ARE THE FIGHTERS FOR
INDEPENDENCE OF CHECHNYA
Voice of Russia
02/22/2005
Because separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov is said
to control all the illegally formed paramilitary
units of Chechnya, some people in the West
want Moscow to discuss the future of Chechnya
with Aslan Maskhadov.
Commentary by Eduard Ryabtsev.
The chairman of the State Council of Chechnya
Taus Dzhabrailov fails to see why separatist
emissaries should be invited to join the European
delegation to the roundtable conference on
Chechnya which is to be held next month. It had been decided months ago in Strasbourg that
those who attend this conference must agree to
see Chechnya as a constituent part of the Russian
Federation. But separatist leaders Aslan
Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev refuse to see
their home republic as a constituent part of
Russia while trying to convince the world that
there will be no end to the violence until Aslan
Maskhadov meets for talks with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
His attempt to declare a ceasefire proves that
Maskhadov is incapable of putting an end to the
hostilities. Ceasefire or no ceasefire, separatist
forces keep assaulting, killing and harassing
civilians. They gun down, in their own homes,
those who support the new government of
Chechnya. They set their houses afire, and the
bodies of people they have kidnapped are later
found with signs of torture. They wage war on
Islamic clerics and elders, on teachers who
preach Chechen unity and call for peace and rule
of law. Landmines and high explosive devices are
planted on orders from Aslan Maskhadov and
Shamil Basayev. Bomb blasts claim human lives at
bus stops, on crossroads and in other crowded
places. The hands of many of them are splashed
with blood.
It is quite clear that they, as well as Maskhadov
and Basayev, should be brought to justice. That is
why Chechens refuse to deal with Maskhadov
and Basayev. Not only because they have
committed federal offenses. Also because men
under their command have long turned into
bandits and assassins. Which is why any dialog
with them would be taken as a slap in the face by
the relatives of those who have lost their lives
and are killed by the alleged fighters for the
freedom and sovereignty of Chechnya.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 76 ~
Chechen Cease-Fire Expires on
Anniversary
JUDITH INGRAM
AP Online; Feb 23, 2005
A temporary cease-fire called by Chechen rebel
leader Aslan Maskhadov expired Wednesday, the
61st anniversary of the Stalin-era deportation of
Chechens to the barren steppes of then-Soviet
Central Asia.
Maskhadov had ordered his fighters, including
radical warlord Shamil Basayev, to observe a
weekslong cease-fire through Tuesday, the eve of
the anniversary. He also renewed a call for talks
with the Russian leadership, which has
consistently turned them down.
"We have proposed and again are proposing
peace to Russia, because we consider that it's up
to the strong side to propose peace," Maskhadov said in a statement posted Wednesday on the
Kavkaz Center Web site, a mouthpiece for the
rebels.
It was not clear exactly when the cease-fire
began but it was believed to be in late January or
early February.
Russian officials dismissed the cease-fire call as a
publicity stunt and maintained that rebels kept up
their attacks. Nine servicemen were killed in a
rebel attack Monday night, the Russian military
said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and other
officials consider Maskhadov an international
terrorist and doubt he maintains much authority
among the insurgents. Though Basayev is formally
Maskhadov's subordinate, he is believed to
command a far greater following among the
militants.
The Kremlin sent troops into Chechnya in 1994
in a bid to crush its separatist leadership, but
they withdrew after a devastating 20-month war
that left the southern Russian region de facto
independent.
Russian forces returned in 1999 following a rebel
incursion into a neighboring province and deadly
apartment building explosions blamed on rebels.
Chechens and Ingush, who were also victims of
the February 1944 deportations, marked the
anniversary with visits to mosques and
cemeteries.
In the Chechen capital, Grozny, dozens of people
gathered at a memorial formed from gravestones
to honor those who perished during the deportation.
"Every day, they took the dead bodies out of the
train. The soldiers threw them into the snow,"
said Zayndi Dudayev, 72, who said the trip in
overcrowded cattle cars took two weeks.
His family returned to Grozny in 1964 after
suffering hunger and surviving a typhus epidemic
that swept through the exiles' communities.
"My home was gone. There was only my
homeland, the graves of my ancestors, my land
that we had longed for day and night all those
years," Dudayev said.
The Council of Europe, meanwhile, announced
that a roundtable on Chechnya would be held in
Strasbourg, France, on March 21. Political parties
and politicians from Chechnya and Russian
government officials were to attend, the council
said, adding that Chechen separatists would not be invited.
Also Wednesday, Kavkaz Center announced that
Basayev had married a Russian woman, his third
wife, on Feb. 14 in Russia's Krasnodar region,
where he spent more than a month getting
medical treatment. The report, which could not
be verified, could be an attempt to embarrass
Russian authorities, who say they have been
unable to capture or kill the elusive warlord in
spite of his having been sighted in regions outside
Chechnya.
Maskhadov in control in Chechnya, rebel
tells Russian radio
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb
23, 2005
Text of report by Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on
23 February
[Presenter] The cease-fire with the Russian
authorities called by Chechen separatists expired
a few hours ago. It began in early February, when
[Chechen separatist leader] Aslan Maskhadov's
order to halt military action on Chechen
territory came into effect. A Maskhadov emissary
has told Ekho Moskvy that separatist armed
formations are stronger than ever. [Akhmed]
Zakayev said that before long the rebels will
show that to the federal troops.
[Zakayev] I think the obvious fact is that
Maskhadov is currently able to control the
situation in the republic and he can control
peace. From that standpoint, it [the cease-fire]
was a kind of test. Despite all the provocations
by puppet structures and occupation structures,
we still succeeded in demonstrating that the
orders of the supreme commander-in-chief are implemented.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 77 ~
[Presenter] For his part, the State Duma deputy
from Chechnya, Ruslan Yamadayev, told our
radio station that Maskhadov does not pose any
danger at present. I quote Yamadayev:
Maskhadov has long been a zero. Only [rebel
warlord] Shamil Basayev and the mercenaries
pose a danger now. Of course there are people
who can make a blast happen anywhere. So the
danger is there, Yamadayev added, but this
situation exists not only in Russia. End of quote.
Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian
0700 gmt 23 Feb 05
Russia: North Caucasus Republics Enter
Circle Of Violence
By Jean-Christophe Peuch
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov in
January ordered his troops to halt all offensive operations against Russian soldiers. The unilateral
cease-fire, which entered into force on 2
February, ends at midnight tonight. As fighting
reportedly abated in Chechnya itself, Moscow
apparently redoubled efforts to eliminate
militants in neighboring republics. Violence is
expected to grow further in those areas as
Russia and regional governments continue to
crack down on purported local Islamist cells.
Prague, 23 February 2005 (RFE/RL) – In recent
weeks, Russian security raids have been reported
in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria.
Heavy clashes took place in Karachayevsk, a
town in neighboring Karachaevo-Cherkessia, in
mid-February.
The Russian military claims those sweeps
resulted in the destruction of local radical Islamic
cells with purported links to Chechnya.
Also in mid-February, an alleged liaison of the Al-
Qaeda terrorist network blew himself up in
Ingushetia to avoid capture. Fighting between
security forces and purported Islamic militants
has been going in Daghestan, east of Chechnya.
Grigory Shvedov is editor in chief of “Kavkazsky
Uzel” (Caucasian Knot), a Russian information
website that covers developments in the North
and South Caucasus regions. He told RFE/RL that
he saw this upsurge of violence as yet another
confirmation of a dangerous trend.
“The absence of a long-term vision of
developments in the North Caucasus [in the
Kremlin’s] policy is responsible for the spilling
over of the Chechen conflict," Shvedov said.
"Today the war is no longer confined to
Chechnya and is now spreading in Daghestan and Ingushetia. Militants are carrying out operations
in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachaevo-
Cherkessia and these actions are no longer
sporadic, but continuous. In North Ossetia, we
see no longer isolated terror attacks, but a
conflict wave that is spreading all over the
republic, not in the form of militant raids, but
rather in that of civil confrontation. All these
developments are linked to one another and
stem from the irresponsible policy carried out by
the Russian armed forces and the federal center.”
Tensions are running high across the North
Caucasus -- and not only because of the war in
Chechnya. Bad governance, economic
mismanagement, and authoritarian tendencies on
the part of regional elites have also helped foster
social discontent and violence.
In North Ossetia, President Aleksandr
Dzasokhov’s failure to prevent September’s
Beslan hostage crisis, which claimed more than 300 lives, has served as a catalyst for political
demands that he step down.
In neighboring Ingushetia, critics blame President
Murat Zyazikov for the disappearance of dozens
of opponents at the hands of alleged “death
squads.” These abductions and suspected killings
might have been one of the main motives behind
the militant raids that decimated the republican
Interior Ministry headquarters in June.
In Daghestan, State Council Chairman
Magomedali Magomedov’s reluctance to comply
with a power-sharing agreement has rekindled
simmering tensions among various ethno-political
groupings vying for power. Two high-ranking
government officials survived a bomb attack in
the town of Kizlyar in mid-February, and reports
say security has been beefed up in the capital
Makhachkala in anticipation of new attacks.
In Karachaevo-Cherkessia, the suspected
involvement of police officers and President
Mustafa Batdyev’s son-in-law in the collective
murder of seven young businessmen in October
has triggered a wave of antigovernments
protests.
In Kabardino-Balkaria, critics blame ailing Soviet-
era President Valerii Kokov for economic
collapse and widespread corruption.
Thomas De Waal, Caucasus project manager at
the London-headquartered Institute for War and
Peace Reporting (IWPR), said domestic political
developments have – perhaps to an even greater
extent than the Chechen war --- contributed to
radicalizing entire segments of the local
populations.
“In Kabardino-Balkaria, for example, you have an
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 78 ~
extremely authoritarian government, you have an
extremely heavy-handed presence of the Federal
Security Service, or FSB, you have suppression of
opposition, and you had closure of mosques," De
Waal said. "So you might say it’s a small model of
Uzbekistan. All the ingredients are there for a
homegrown Islamist movement.”
In predominantly Christian North Ossetia,
authorities have moved against non-official Islam.
Three weeks ago, on 2 February, regional FSB
officers arrested Yermak Tegaev, the head of the
Vladikavkaz-based Islamic Cultural Center and an
open critic of the republic’s government-
appointed mufti. The FSB claim radical religious
literature, explosives, and detonators were found
in Tegaev’s house.
Northern Caucasus militants claim to draw their
inspiration from Islam.
But De Waal said religion serves primarily as a
vehicle for political and socioeconomic demands.
“[These people] call themselves Islamists, but
there is not much evidence about how much
they know about Islam," De Waal said. "I think it
is more of a socioeconomic agenda, in which
Islam has become a flag that they fly. This is
probably true of a lot of conflicts, but in the
North Caucasus there is still, I think, widespread
ignorance about Islam. We’re talking about young
people who are 20 or 25 – sometime even
younger – for whom basically there is no place in
the societies they live in, and this is why they are
turning to this agenda.”
De Waal said that, while developing their own
political agenda, many of the region’s radical
groupings have been maintaining relations with
Shamil Basaev and other Chechen radical field
commanders. For some of them, these ties date
back from the time Basaev fought Georgian
troops in Abkhazia in the early 1990s. For others,
they were forged during the 1997-99 interwar
period that saw many radical youth undergo
military training in the war-torn republic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to
reassert his authority in the North Caucasus by
appointing new regional leaders when the terms
of the serving presidents expire. In the meantime,
he clearly intends to rely on force to keep those
volatile areas under control.
At a government meeting yesterday, Putin told
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev, who had just
reported to him on recent security raids in
Nalchik, to show no mercy in the battle against
suspected Islamic militants.
“You must continue working like that," Putin
said. "Be tougher with them. Be tougher."
Nurgaliev in turn pledged further raids would be
carried out in Ingushetia and Daghestan.
For Russian Caucasus expert Shvedov, the
Kremlin’s response to political violence can only
lead to a deadend.
“This policy, which consists in killing as many
‘terrorists’ as possible, can lead nowhere,"
Shvedov said. "In my opinion, we should go in the
other direction. If Russian society really wants
that an end be put to mass terrorism, [it] should
first start examining its causes. But society today
is not interested in examining the causes of
terrorism -- be it the war in Chechnya, or the
overall situation in the North Caucasus. As for
state, not only it is not interested, but it is also
making life impossible for those who reflect on
these issues, thus killing all hope of seeing terrorism decrease.”
De Waal also said he saw no end to unrest in the
North Caucasus.
“We’re now seeing the violence intensify and I
fear it will get into a circle in which every
[Russian] response will make with a new upsurge
of violence from these young radicals,” he said.
Moscow Website Reports Chechen Rebel
Leader's 'Unexpected' Peace Offer
Moscow Gazeta.ru WWW-Text in Russian 23
Feb 05
[Report by Ilya Barabanov: "Truce as Encore"]
The truce announced by the gunmen's leaders,
Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev, ended at
midnight, but they are in no hurry to go over to
the offensive expected by the federal forces. On
the morning of 23 February Maskhadov once
again proposed to the federal authorities that
they sit at the negotiating table.
The truce announced by Maskhadov and
supported by Basayev expired Tuesday [22
February] night -- at 0000 hours Moscow time.
The federal command in Chechnya had been
expecting a sharp galvanization of the gunmen's
activity on the eve of 23 February, but instead of
a series of terrorist acts there came a new
address by Aslan Maskhadov, in which he once
again proposed sitting at the negotiating table and
ending the bloodshed in Chechnya. However,
this love of peace does not rule out the
possibility that terrorist acts will follow a little
later.
For the past 10 years 23 February has been a traditional day on which the separatists put on a
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 79 ~
show of force. It was on 23 February 61 years
ago that the deportation of the Chechens began
on the orders of Iosif Stalin. Since 1994 this day
has been marked in Ichkeria as Chechen National
Revival Day. Commenting on the truce which has
ended, Akhmed Zakayev, Maskhadov's emissary,
declared: "I cannot speak now specifically about
troop operations which have been prepared, for I
know little about this, but I believe that it has
become obvious that Maskhadov can control the
situation in the republic today." That is, the
separatists regard the main task of the truce as
having been fulfilled: They have shown the federal
forces and, most importantly, the West in the
persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, the OSCE, the Council of
Europe, and others that they are not disparate
gangs but, after all, something whole that is
capable of coordinating its actions and that obeys
a single command center.
The military's fears regarding the expected new
flare-up of gunmen's activity are all the more
valid. They were intensified to the utmost
following Tuesday's attack by a group of gunmen
on a reconnaissance party of the 42d Motorized
Rifle Brigade of the Defense Ministry. Nine
reconnaissance party members died as a result of
the battle. Its complete annihilation was only
avoided thanks to an operational approach to the
engagement area by a reserve battalion. The
gunmen were blocked, and three of them were
killed and another three injured. The attack
provided grounds for saying that a number of
terrorist acts aimed at destabilizing the situation
is being prepared in Chechnya. Small arms,
grenade launchers, explosive devices, and
electrical detonators were discovered on the
gunmen who were detained. Aleksandr Baranov,
commander of the North Caucasus Military
District, declared that the gunmen "were clearly
trying to do something on the eve of the festivals
and the day of the Chechen people's
deportation."
Against this background the latest address by
Maskhadov, posted on one of the gunmen's
websites, was to a considerable degree
unexpected. "Chechnya has repeatedly offered
Russia peace and is doing so once again,"
Maskhadov declared. The separatists' leader is
convinced that only mutual good will will halt the
Russian-Chechen war. At the same time
Maskhadov points out that the separatists will
continue combat operations against the federal
troops if the Russian authorities do not react to
the latest call for peace. "While offering peace, at
the same time we are also ready for war -- in
order to defend our human dignity -- and this
right is given us by the Almighty," the statement
reads. The separatists' leader is convinced that "only a sensible person, who is certain that he is
right and that he is strong, can be magnanimous
and not indifferent to the destinies of other
people." In his address Maskhadov also turns to
the events of 60 years ago, drawing parallels
between the actions of Stalin and those of the
present Russian authorities.
Representatives of the federal staff have not yet
made any comment at all on this statement of
Maskhadov's, but it can be assumed that it will be
greeted with the same skepticism as the previous
offer of a truce.
Russian Duma Deputy Says Maskhadov's
Statements Calculated for West
MOSCOW. Feb 24, 2005 (Interfax-AVN) -
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov's
latest statement about his plans to end terrorist
attacks and stop targeting federal forces and
administrative buildings in Chechnya is calculated for Western politicians, said State Duma Deputy
Akhmar Zavgayev of Chechnya.
He said this statement, for reasons he cannot
understand, has been cited by various media with
reference to the illegal armed groups' websites
and are timed to coincide with a roundtable
currently being prepared by the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe.
"Maskhadov is trying to picture himself as a peace
dove, as a person ardently willing to restore
stability in Chechnya," Zavgayev told Interfax on
Thursday.
He said the Russian leadership has several
serious reasons never to hold talks with
Maskhadov on subjects going beyond his
surrender to the law enforcement agencies.
"Maskhadov must be prosecuted and brought to
account for what has happened in Chechnya. If
he thinks he is not guilty, he must prove this in
the court," the deputy said.
He said that "Maskhadov is incapable of assuming
any responsibility before the people of Chechnya,
or the Russian leadership, since his orders will
not be taken seriously either by Basayev, or
foreign mercenaries."
Russian FSB Says Basayev, Maskhadov
Words on Cease-Fire Cannot Be Believed
Moscow Kommersant in Russian 24 Feb 05 p 6
[Musa Muradov report: "'Ceasefire Order Could
Be Extended]
Yesterday, following the attack on some
reconnaissance scouts in Groznyy, some news agencies reported that the so-called unilateral
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 80 ~
cease-fire announced by Aslan Maskhadov and
Shamil Basayev, was at an end, and now the
gunmen would once again switch to active
operations. "Maskhadov has not announced that
the order for a unilateral cease-fire has expired,"
Kommersant was told yesterday by Umar
Khambiyev, Aslan Maskhadov's general
representative abroad, "it remains in force until
the end of February and we hope that our peace
proposals will still find a response from the
Russian side." Mr. Khambiyev has not ruled out
the possibility that in the event of a positive
reaction, the duration of validity of the cease-fire
order could be extended: "The president
(Maskhadov -- Kommersant note) has proved
that he can influence the situation and can
answer for the commitments he has assumed. To
the question as to what one can expect when the
cease-fire has expired, Mr Khambiyev answered
as follows: "The Chechen side does not intend to
undertake any kind of explosive actions. It is simply that yet another chance of restoring peace
in Chechnya will have been missed."
To judge by all accounts, Shamil Basayev, who
declared peace until 22 February (Aslan
Maskhadov announced a cease-fire for the whole
of February) does not intend to resume
hostilities for the time being either. Yesterday
the kavkazcenter.com website reported that for
a month Basayev has undergone a "course of
rehabilitation in one of the towns of Krasnodar
Kray and married a woman, who is a Cossackby
birth, there on 14 February and has returned
home with her." Rudnik Dudayev, secretary of
the Chechen Security Council called the
kavkazcenter report "the latest piece of
propaganda nonsense." And the Russian FSB
[Federal Security Service] reported that
"Maskhadov's and Basayev's statements cannot be
believed at all," and recalled that according to
data from the special services the saboteurs who
were recently liquidated in Nalchik and
Khasavyurt were sent to those cities by the
leader of the Chechen gunmen to carry out acts
of terrorism.
Maskhadov's Envoy Says Dialogue With
Russia Still Open
(Internet) Daymohk WWW-Text in Russian
2000 GMT 01 Mar 05
["Umar Khanbiyev: 'The Chechen side is always
open for a dialogue with the Kremlin'"]
[Excerpt] An exclusive interview of the Daymohk
news agency with the general representative of
the president of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria [CRI] abroad and CRI Health Minister,
Umar Khanbiyev.
[Correspondent] [Passage omitted: greeting in
Chechen] Could you tell us when the final period
of the moratorium on hostilities, unilaterally
declared by the Chechen side, expires?
[Khanbiyev] [Passage omitted: greetings in
Chechen] The period of validity of the unilateral
moratorium on all types of hostilities on the
territories of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
and the Russian Federation, which was declared
by an order of the CRI president and
Commander-in-Chief of the CRI armed forces,
Aslan Maskhadov, on 14 January 2005, expired
on 28 February, at exactly midnight, Dzhokhar
[Groznyy] time. At the present moment we have
no information from the headquarters of the
main defense committee of the Majlis ul-Shura of
the CRI as to whether this moratorium will be
extended for a further period or whether the
fighting between the Russian occupation forces
and the fighters of the Chechen Resistance will
be resumed on 1 March.
You have probably realized that only an order of
[Chechen rebel leader] Shamil Basayev, issued
following an instruction of the C-in-C of the CRI
armed forces, Aslan Maskhadov, on a cessation of
hostilities and operative until 22 February 2005,
has been published on Chechen web sites. As far
as I am aware, there was a specific reason for
this. In order that the truth about the Russian-
Chechen war becomes known to the public at
large, we occasionally have to resort to such
devices, well aware what a cynical and insidious
enemy the Chechens are having to deal with.
[Correspondent] What stage has the talks
process between the CRI leaders and the
Kremlin administration reached? During the
cease-fire period were there any contacts with
the Russian side? If there were, are there any
encouraging results as regards ending the war?
[Khanbiyev] As they say, no news is good news.
In undertaking such unprecedented steps as a
sign of good will, we were right to expect a
similar response from the Russian side, especially
as before that there were some veiled signals
from the Kremlin. It is hard for us to judge what
frightened off the members of Putin's team so
much from contacting the Ichkerian side. I can
only give my personal opinion, and that is that
strong pressure was put on the Russian president
by supporters of a continuation of the Russian-
Chechen war and the breakdown of the Russian
Federation.
We, unfortunately, were wrong in sincerely
believing and expecting that Putin is in control of
the questions of war and peace in Chechnya, at
the same time losing sight of the fact of his open
flirting with his puppets in the republic. And this flirting has at times amounted to behavior --
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 81 ~
absurd in all respects -- which is a disgrace for a
head of state. In my opinion, Putin has become
the unwilling hostage to a complex military-
political situation which has developed round the
CRI, and he has not the slightest idea how to
fight his way out of the "Chechen swamp" which
he and his occupation armada have got stuck in.
In all probability, his staff generals and his
Chechen puppets have (yet again!) assured Putin
"on oath" that they will do everything possible
and impossible to "deprive" the Chechen
Resistance movement of its leader as quickly as
they can. When a person loses all common sense
in his maniacal desires, then the first symptom of
this pathology is an expression of blind faith in an
illusory dream. I repeat once again that this is
purely my personal opinion. But what the CRI
President Aslan Maskhadov will have to say about
this and whether he intends to make any more
attempts to drag the Russian president out of the
"Chechen quagmire," we will soon find out.
[Correspondent] Doesn't this mean that a
moratorium will also be placed on talks between
the Chechen and the Russian sides?
[Khanbiyev] No, of course not. The Chechen
side has always been prepared for a dialogue with
the Kremlin and it is ready for political talks with
Russia without any prior conditions.
[Correspondent] In the light of Aslan
Maskhadov's peace initiatives, how useful was the
meeting in London between a representative
delegation of the CRI and representatives of the
Russian Soldiers' Mothers Committee, whose
powers, unfortunately, were not sanctioned by
the Kremlin administration?
[Khanbiyev] Without doubt, this was a very
important meeting, in the sense of a
breakthrough in the Kremlin's information
blockade around the February peace initiatives of
the CRI's military-political leadership. It has to be
stressed that the CRI Minister of Culture,
Information, and the Press Akhmed Zakayev had
a meeting in London with a Russian public
organization that unites regional soldiers'
mothers committees, and it was held in the
presence of representatives of the European
Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe [PACE]. The participation
in this meeting of representatives of these
international organizations considerably raises its
level. This meeting may well mean nothing to the
Kremlin, but the Chechen side has once again
proved that it is sincere in its search for ways
toward peace and has shown that it will continue
this search, using all levers of influence on the
Putin administration, including popular diplomacy.
And the soldiers' mothers have reaffirmed that quite a different attitude to the Russian-Chechen
war has taken shape in Russian society than the
official Kremlin one. Nevertheless, so long as
representatives of the Kremlin administration do
not take part in talks with the representatives of
the Chechen Resistance movement instead of
Russian soldiers' mothers, and the presidents of
the warring sides do not meet on a personal
level, all that remains is the good will of people
and good intentions, and the Russian-Chechen
war will carry on indefinitely. When it comes to a
matter of stupid actions by his colleagues, the
incumbent in the Kremlin reminds one of a
novice surgeon who is trying to remove tonsils
by cutting through the intestines.
It is common knowledge that the pointless
bullying actions of the Kremlin in Chechnya have
taken the situation to the stage where it is out of
control throughout the Caucasus. If things
continue as they are, the Caucasian tragedy will
start to directly affect all the Russian people. I believe they can sense this already and it is
precisely because of this that the great majority
of the Russian population are starting to take
part in the movement against the destructive war
in Chechnya. The first to realise and evaluate this
simple truth were the soldiers' mothers, headed
by Valentina Melnikova. The personal courage of
these women is truly amazing.
[Correspondent] What can you say about the
specific proposals of the Chechen side that were
recorded in the London memorandum?
[Khanbiyev] These proposals are simple and clear
because, in the main, they have been based on
the principles of the concept of conditional
independence drawn up under the leadership of
the CRI Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov and
supported by CRI President Aslan Maskhadov
back in 2003. And the positions of the
government and the president of the CRI in
relation to these principles have been voiced on
a number of occasions and have also been
supported by many leading politicians in the
West.
[Correspondent] How do you explain the fact
that among the signatories of the memorandum
was the author of the "round table meeting,"
Andreas Gross, whose activities are seen by our
side as pro-Russian and harmful to the Chechen
people?
[Khanbiyev] I think it has finally dawned on Gross
that if the representatives of the legitimate CRI
President Aslan Maskhadov do not take part in
this "round-table" farce, then this farce will
become too obvious and he will then have to do
everything he can to find a "realistic" Chechen
politician who will rise to his bait. Evidently, he is counting on inviting the "soldiers' mothers" who
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 82 ~
should serve as bait for us to his "round table
meeting." Gross may even promise to change the
format of the "round table meeting," but I am
sure that he will deceive those who agree to it.
The fact is that I know this man very well. A year
ago, when we met, I handed him a video cassette
where the CRI president, in a personal address
to Gross, went through in detail the points of
withdrawal from Chechnya and warned that any
other attempts would fail. The CRI president
persistently warned him not to go along the road
of his predecessor Lord Judd, who unwittingly
became the guilty party of the continuation of the
Russian-Chechen war because of his erroneous
appraisal of the situation in Chechnya. Despite
this, Gross, deliberately ignoring the wise advice
of CRI President Aslan Maskhadov -- who better
than anyone knows the situation in Chechnya --
chose the path of farce and confrontation. I do
not believe the sudden transformation of Gross'
former ignorance into his respect for our side. Here he is acting on the principle: "by hook or by
crook."
Returning to the question of the Chechen side's
participation in Gross' "round table meeting," I
would like to recall that CRI President Aslan
Maskhadov instructed the CRI Foreign Ministry
to examine the question of a complete freeze on
contacts between official representatives of the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the PACE. The
head of the CRI Foreign Ministry Ilyas Akhmadov
stated in his protest that the leadership of the
CRI also reserves the right to assess the actions
of the initiative group headed by PACE's
rapporteur for Chechnya Andreas Gross as
actions unfriendly toward the Chechen people
and leading to a protraction of this bloodiest and
most tragic conflict in modern Europe. The
positions of the president, government, and
parliament of the CRI are the same.
[Correspondent] A trial was held in Strasbourg
recently on cases brought by citizens of the CRI
who had suffered from the tyranny of the Russian
occupation forces at the very beginning of the
second Russian-Chechen war. What significance
does the verdict of this trial have for the
Chechen state?
[Khanbiyev] Yes, the European Court of Human
Rights in Strasbourg came to the conclusion that
the Russian authorities had seriously contravened
human rights in the CRI in relation to civilians.
Six cases -- this, of course, is nothing compared
to what is happening in Chechnya. But this is just
the beginning. Therefore the positive verdict of
the court in Strasbourg based on the cases
brought by the six Chechen citizens, who lost
their relatives as a result of the actions of the
Russian aggressors in 1999-2000 is encouraging for those Chechens who still have faith that there
is justice somewhere. I am sure that the material
responsibility of the Russian leadership for the
brutalities in relation to the peaceful citizens of
Chechnya will prove to be more effective than
any other censures of European human rights
institutions. Moreover, the Strasbourg verdict is
further juridical acknowledgements of the
violation of human rights in Chechnya with all the
moral and political consequences resulting from
it. Despite the fact that there are still certain
obstacles, created by Russia, which, apparently, is
planning to appeal to the upper chamber of the
court, it is virtually impossible to halt the flow of
cases brought by Chechens to the federal
authorities (at the present moment there are
about 120 cases on the Russian-Chechen war in
Strasbourg).
It is a pity that our press has given little coverage
to this important and everyday subject. This must
be talked about constantly, and all the details of these cases must be brought to the mind of
every Chechen. It is true, that many citizens of
the CRI today fear for the lives of their closest
relatives who are on the territory of the
occupied republic, and for this reason they
refrain from appealing to the legal authorities.
But still fresh in our minds are the examples of
the murders of people because they were bold
enough to complain about the "federals" in the
Strasbourg court. I believe that there are also
quite a few people in Chechen society who have
nothing to lose and who realize that the
European Court of Human Rights is the last place
where it is possible to get justice in connection
with the bloody tyranny caused by the Russian
barbarians against the Chechen people.
I would also like to report that the damage
caused by the Russian Federation against the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria during the last two
Russian-Chechen wars -- according to the most
modest assessments -- amounts to about $200
billion. Sooner or later Moscow will have to
compensate for this damage cause by the
Kremlin's criminal war against the Chechen state.
This will today become the most effective lesson
for Russia, and will in the future serve as a factor
of restraining it from murdering people in the
ardor of their imperial ambitions. The Chechens
will do everything expected of them to save their
people who by will of fate have found themselves
a part of Russia as a result of its colonialist
claims. [Passage omitted: correspondent and
Khanbiyev exchange pleasantries to conclude]
Do the Russians want war
Kavkaz-Centre
2005-03-01 00:44:03
As it was expected, the Russian authorities have ignored the peace initiative of the Chechen side
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 83 ~
that once again gave an exhaustive answer to the
sacramental question: “Do the Russians want
war?”. Nevertheless, the peace initiative launched
by the President of the Chechen Republic
Ichkeria cannot be considered goalless.
A great value of the mentioned initiative is that it
has become an effective litmus paper dropped
into the mix of the Western diplomacy. The
Chechen president, officially offering the
Kremlin's rascal to stop the bloodshed,
undoubtedly, did not have any illusions.
However, this step gave an ample opportunity to
the Western politicians to use the weighty
arguments in controversy with Moscow
concerning the adequacy of continuation of the
genocidal war and the Kremlin's anti-Chechen
propaganda.
To all appearances, the Western politicians have
also made up their minds to disregard the goodwill of the Chechen leadership and to stage
the so-called “round table” farce instead of taking
real steps to end the war that has been suggested
by the Chechen President's peace moratorium.
From now on, not only the war in Chechnya lies
on the conscience of the West. Even the
irremediable optimist will acknowledge the fact
of expansion of military actions throughout the
North Caucasus territory. The reports of
Nurghaliev and Patrushev sent to Putin about the
“successfully carried out special operations” in
the cities of the Northern Caucasus is a direct
evidence of the expansion of war zone, and not
of the success as the Kremlin tries to present it.
How can the appearance of the units of
Resistance and armed underground organizations
in the North Caucasus republics be considered a
success of Putin's regime if such organizations did
not exist 5 years ago?.!
Therefore, the New Caucasus War will weigh on
the conscience of the Western countries, which,
having all levers to influence Moscow and able to
stop the genocide of the Chechen people have
decided to give one more chance to Putin and his
gang to punish the Chechen nation.
Having obviously connived with the Kremlin
junta, Secretary General of the Council of
Europe Terry Davis made his special contribution
to the expansion of military actions on the
territory of the Northern Caucasus .
It was noted that the Western politicians have a
strange tradition of whipping the cat after their
retirement. Today we hear that Madelyn
Albright, Lord Judd and other ex-officials grieve
over their lack of foresight, and make painful
confessions that they have failed to bend every effort to peace resolution of the Russian-
Chechen conflict.
The position of the US deserves to be mentioned
separately. In this connection, we do not have
even to think of any kind of participation on the
part of the US in peacekeeping mission in the
Caucasus, at any rate, until the master of the
White House id the man who has unleashed the
analogous war in Iraq, and making impudent
statements about the appearance of young
democracy in the war-worn country, word for
word repeating Putin's “irreversibility of peace
process in Chechnya”.
What can be expected of Bush, making no note
of the genocide in Chechnya and considering
Europe (the same PACE, Council of Europe ,
OSCE, etc.), which allowed the genocide of the
Chechen people, to be “the powerful partner in
the cause of championing peace all over the
world”.
As to the UN headed by the embezzlers of public
funds, bribe takers and adulterers, there is no use
of speaking about them. It should be reminded
that this brood of Stalin, which has not stirred a
finger to exert influence on the Kremlin rascals,
was subjected to the annihilating criticism in
many directions at once.
Hardly had the investigation of corruption in the
UN humanitarian program “Oil in exchange for
food” been completed – the case concerning
Saddam Hussein's business with the son of the
Secretary General of this scandalous
organization, as its “peacekeepers” in Congo
became the object of investigation.
One more similar surprise has been recently
presented by the High Commissioner Ruud
Lubbers for Refigees to the UN. A scandal
caused by the accusations of sexual solicitations
brought against him is in the process of buildup
and he is threatened to resignation. The former
Prime Minister of the Netherlands following the
example of his people in Congo has turned out
to be a sexual pervert and violator. And it's he
who is commissioned with the problems of the
refugees!
Question – Is there anyone in the wild West for
the Chechens to rely on? It is clear that there is
no one, if only the Chechens do not give up their
own principles, and having become the
participants of these shameful orgies of
international hypocrisy, call for help, appealing to
the entire “civilized world” – Help us – We are
the ones just like you!
It is clear the Chechens do not need such
“civilization”. Therefore, they have to seek another path.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 84 ~
It is not unlikely they have to change the strategy
and reject the attempts of carrying out
negotiations with the war criminal in the
Kremlin, especially as there are signs of such talks
at all. The experience of the centuries-old war
with the Russian empire shows that until the
Chechen army breaks the backbone of the
occupants, Putin and his company will cherish
hopes for weakening and destruction of the
Chechen Resistance.
Perhaps there is another, more productive and
already tested approach to the conflict. For
example, to initiate direct contacts with the
direct performers of criminal orders locally, i.e.
in occupied Chechnya , taking into consideration
that after declaration of the moratorium by the
Chechen side, the officers and soldiers of the
occupation army are fully confident that the
Chechen military command is in full control of the situation.
Unlike the local puppets, the occupants accepted
the offer of ceasefire with great satisfaction. At
least 300 – 400 Russian soldiers and officers
escaped injuries and deaths thanks to the
armistice. They are tired of fighting, and the
sources in Chechnya testify to the truth of this
statement.
It is quite possible that time has come to
negotiate about armistice with the enemy that is
on the front line, i.e. the commanders of the
Russian occupation forces, and explain them the
real situation, the more so as the overwhelming
majority of them are well aware of inanity of this
war.
The soldiers' mothers, undoubtedly, can cope
with the similar task, if they really want to bring
the war to the end. They ought to seek meeting
with the Chechen side, and, having surmounted
obstacles, they have to go to Chechnya and take
their sons from there. Who can deplore their
unwillingness to get back their sons in the form
of the freight – 200? To take the son from the
criminal war is quite a legal action.
Besides that the situation in the Russian army is
critical. It is not excluded that a “revolutionary
general” will appear among them, who, having
united the political enemies of Putin, will lead
them against the dictatorship of the chekist who
has obtained quick promotion. Perhaps it will be
possible to speak with such leader about peace
and mutual interests.
Putin, Bush, Davis, Schroeder and Blair as well as
the others like them do not want and beware of
such development of the situation. The war in the Northern Caucasus , so far, is advantageous
to them for different reasons.
Akhmad Ichkeriisky
Analysis: Is It Too Late For Peace Talks In
Chechnya?
by Liz Fuller
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 11, 2005
ON 3 FEBRUARY, THE CHECHEN
RESISTANCE WEBSITE CHECHENPRESS.COM
POSTED A STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT
ASLAN MASKHADOV'S ENVOY UMAR
KHAMBIEV ANNOUNCING THAT
MASKHADOV ISSUED INSTRUCTIONS TO
HIS FORCES ON 14 JANUARY TO OBSERVE
A UNILATERAL CEASE-FIRE UNTIL THE END
OF FEBRUARY. ACCORDING TO KHAMBIEV,
THAT COMMAND WAS INTENDED AS A
GOODWILL GESTURE THAT COULD PAVE THE WAY FOR UNCONDITIONAL TALKS
AIMED AT ENDING MORE THAN FIVE YEARS
OF FIGHTING.
Four days later, on 7 February, "Kommersant-
Daily" published an interview with Maskhadov in
which he repeated his call for negotiations. Also
on 7 February, chechenpress.info posted a
statement by Maskhadov in which he called on
the United Nations, the European Union, and the
Council of Europe to play a more active role in
mediating a settlement of the Chechen conflict.
But Russian officials have not responded to that
initiative, while senior members of the pro-
Moscow Chechen leadership have argued that
Maskhadov does not qualify as a negotiating
partner as he no longer has any authority among
the resistance. Moreover, they allege, Maskhadov
bears responsibility, together with radical field
commander Shamil Basaev, for a string of
terrorist acts against Russian civilians, including
the Beslan hostage taking in September 2004.
Moscow, too, earlier discounted the possibility of
talks with Maskhadov on the pretext of his
alleged involvement in terrorist acts against
Russian civilians. In mid- September, in the wake
of the Beslan hostage crisis, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov compared calls for
Moscow to embark on negotiations with
Maskhadov with the suggestion that Europe
should conduct such talks with Osama bin Laden.
(This despite Maskhadov's repeated insistence
both before and after Beslan that his men strictly
observe the Geneva Conventions and desist both
from attacks on Russian civilians and on Russian
military targets outside Chechnya.)
This is by no means Maskhadov's first attempt to offer the Russian leadership a face-saving way out
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 85 ~
of a conflict that has since 1999 claimed the lives
of thousands of Russian servicemen and sapped
the national budget. In an earlier interview with
"Kommersant-Daily" in April 2000, weeks after
the fall of Grozny, Maskhadov similarly declared a
unilateral cease-fire and called for peace talks and
the dispatch to Chechnya of a fact-finding mission
from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Russian military
officials wrote off that offer as an indirect
admission of defeat, claiming that Maskhadov's
men did not have the weaponry to continue
resistance, according to Interfax on 21 April
2000, while then acting Russian President
Vladimir Putin's aide Sergei Yastrzhembskii said
Maskhadov had not responded to unspecified
counterproposals (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21
April 2000).
Maskhadov issued three further calls in 2000 for
unconditional peace talks: in an interview in July with an Azerbaijani news agency, in a second
interview with "Kommersant-Daily" (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 25 September 2000), and in an
interview with "Moscow News" in November.
Yastrzhembskii rejected the latter offer, saying it
contained "nothing new" and that it was due to
Maskhadov's "inactivity" that Chechnya had
degenerated into "an enclave of terrorism and
Wahhabism" and a permanent threat to Russia's
security (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 November
2000).
Maskhadov broadcast calls for unconditional
peace talks on a clandestine radio station in
January 2001, and on the official Chechen
television channel three months later. Then in
June 2002, on the eve of the Group of Eight (G-
8) summit in Canada, he sent an open letter to
the participants, calling for a cease-fire in
Chechnya and asking for their assistance in
resuming contacts between his envoy, Akhmed
Zakaev, and then presidential envoy to the
Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev. That
initiative coincided with an appeal to Russian
President Vladimir Putin by former Russian
Security Council Secretary Ivan Rybkin (see
"RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 13 September 2002).
Both Rybkin and former Russian Supreme Soviet
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov met with Zakaev
during the summer of 2002 to discuss various
blueprints for resolving the Chechen conflict (see
"RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 29 September 2002).
But Maskhadov subsequently announced that he
was again coordinating resistance activities with
radical field commander Shamil Basaev, who
publicly claimed responsibility for the deadly
hostage taking in a Moscow theater in October
2002. That incident furnished the Russian
authorities with a cast-iron excuse to brand Maskhadov a terrorist, and demolished his
credibility with the United States. The "Los
Angeles Times" on 31 October 2002 quoted an
unnamed U.S. official as saying Maskhadov has
"forfeited any legitimacy he had.... He's either
unwilling to stand up to terrorists or incapable of
it."
In the wake of the Moscow hostage taking,
Maskhadov switched tactics and began calling not
for direct talks with Moscow but for the
international community to pressure the Russian
authorities to agree to such talks. He told
RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service in May 2003
that "it has become obvious today that it is
impossible to seek peace directly with the
Russian leadership," because those leaders rose
to power thanks to the war in Chechnya. He
said: "The Russian authorities that have brought
so much violence to the Chechen people could
not end this war peacefully, even if they wanted
to." He said the only way to bring the fighting to an end is through the United Nations, the OSCE,
the Council of Europe, and other organizations
that protect human rights. Maskhadov reiterated
in that interview that "I have never given orders
to blow up buildings or to kill innocent people. I
have even given orders to my mujahedin...to be
careful not to kill Chechens, not to carry out
terrorist attacks that could hurt innocent people"
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 May 2003).
One year later, in early June 2004, Maskhadov
appeared to have abandoned any hope of peace
talks, telling RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service:
"We tried to approach the Russian government
with our [peace] proposal several times. We told
them, 'Let's stop this war ourselves without
involving anyone into this process.'" Maskhadov
vowed that "we will not stop our struggle, and
we will not back off as long as the enemy
tramples our soil. We'll keep fighting until he
leaves our country. We won't accept anything
short of this." But at the same time, Maskhadov
made clear that he does not seek independence
for Chechnya, but would accept a peace
settlement that would preserve Russia's
territorial integrity. He said: "We are prepared
to do whatever [the Russian leadership] want us
to do, whatever they find advantageous. We can
jointly manage our economy, defenses. We can
jointly guard our borders. We can create a
common currency and conduct our diplomatic
affairs together. We can think of common
investment programs. We are prepared to sign
agreements on collective security and join the
fight against terrorism. That is what we are telling
the Russians. But they don't want that.... In this
situation, we are compelled to seek friends
elsewhere simply because Russians don't want
friendship with us."
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 86 ~
But by mid-2004, two military operations
masterminded by Basaev had transformed the
political landscape in the North Caucasus. The
first was the bomb that killed Chechen
administration head Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov in
May. Instead of reappraising its strategy of
offloading to the pro-Moscow Chechen
leadership the responsibility for neutralizing the
resistance and "normalizing" the political situation
in Chechnya, the Kremlin sought to placate, co-
opt and promote Kadyrov's son Ramzan, whom
many observers believe will replace Kadyrov's
interim successor Alu Alkhanov as soon as he
reaches the age of 30. The second operation,
staged just days after Maskhadov's interview with
RFE/RL, was the raid launched on Interior
Ministry targets in Ingushetia in which some 80
people were killed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22
and 23 June 2004). Ingushetiya.ru quoted a
young Ingush participant in that raid as explaining
that he "and hundreds like me" left home and joined Basaev's militants after federal security or
police personnel randomly detained their
relatives, who subsequently disappeared without
a trace.
Since June, bands of militants reporting to Basaev
have surfaced elsewhere in the North Caucasus -
- in Kabardino-Balkaria, where they raided the
local headquarters of the Federal Antinarcotics
Service in December, and in Daghestan, where
Interior Ministry troops and special forces have
launched at least two operations to apprehend
them in recent weeks. The fact that the war in
Chechnya has spilled over the borders of that
republic could be adduced to substantiate the
Russian authorities' repeated argument that
Maskhadov has become irrelevant, and that there
is no point in negotiating with him -- especially in
light of the differences in the military tactics
favored by Maskhadov, who says he abhors
targeting innocent civilians, and Basaev, who
seemingly considers all Russian citizens legitimate
targets. In other words, a "point of no return"
may already have been reached, beyond which,
Russian officials may argue, the only effective
strategy is to continue current efforts to
eradicate all militant bands perceived as posing
potential threats to security and stability in the
North Caucasus.
On the other hand, as Maskhadov himself has
frequently pointed out, all wars have to end, and
most end at the negotiating table. "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" suggested on 9 February that as a man of
"considerable political experience," Maskhadov
can hardly have anticipated that, this time
around, he would receive a positive response
from the Russian authorities to his cease-fire
declaration and call for unconditional peace talks.
If that is the case, then it is reasonable to assume that Maskhadov's intention may have been to
induce the international community, and above all
U.S. President George W. Bush, to take a
tougher line with Moscow over the need for a
swift and negotiated solution to the Chechen
stalemate before the situation in neighboring
North Caucasus republics deteriorates even
further.
Appendix A. Maskhadov's Kommersant
Interview, Feb 2005
Aslan Maskhadov: An Appeal to the
Russian President
// The leader of Ichkeria tells Kommersant why
he ordered peace
KOMMERSANT Daily, FEBRUARY 09, 2005
Testimonial Evidence
At the end of last week, news of a ceasefire in Chechnya had a powerful impact on Russia and
the world. It was commented on with pleasure
by politicians and law-enforcement officials. The
essence of the reaction of Russian officials was
that all such announcements are nothing more
than cheap PR. Many even said that the ceasefire
declaration was a forgery. In light of this,
Kommersant considered it possible to ask the
author of the order himself, Aslan Maskhadov,
for commentary, presenting the questions to and
receiving the answers from his general
representative Umar Khambiev. Maskhadov has
confirmed the authenticity of this document.
What was the goal of your ceasefire declaration?
It is a gesture of goodwill, an attempt to show a
commitment to peace and to bring the Russian
leadership to its senses. In my view, the
processes that are taking place today in the
Caucasus are leading to catastrophe. In this
situation, I consider it my duty to make
maximum efforts to avoid the real threat faced
not only by my people, but by the Russian people
and all the peoples of the Caucasus. In addition, I
am not sure that President Vladimir Putin is being
reliably informed about the deep abyss of
catastrophe that Russia and the whole of the
Caucasus are being dragged into. I believe that
the political will of the presidents of Russia and
Ichkeria can put an end to this bloodbath.
Therefore, my appeal is first of all to the
president of Russia, and then, of course, to
everyone whose conscience has not degraded
hopelessly.
Why in February?
There is no symbolic reason here. It could have
been December or January. But February is the last month of winter and the battle usually heats
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 87 ~
up with new force in spring.
Is the ceasefire connected with the desire to free
your relatives, whom your supporters claim have
been kidnapped by Russian law-enforcement
bodies?
No. Many citizens of Chechnya have been
kidnapped and killed in the last six years.
Therefore, I do not feel that my familial
sensibilities should prevail over my sense of duty
to my people.
Which European politicians did you discuss the
idea of a unilateral ceasefire with?
Similar suggestions had come from a number of
human rights institutions and leading politicians. I
refused them, because there are no independent
organizations inside Chechnya at present that
could monitor the ceasefire. That is bad for us,
but we have taken that step any way. I repeat that the goal of the ceasefire is not an attempt to
show anyone our soundness. It is a gesture of
goodwill. It is the latest invitation to the other
side to come to the negotiation table.
What kind of reaction from the Russian
authorities are you counting on?
I am hoping for an adequate reaction. Therefore,
right after issuing the order for a temporary halt
to offensive combat action, I issued instructions
for the appointment of a delegation for contact
with the Russian side. I appointed Umar
Khambiev, the minister of public health of
Ichkeria and my general representative abroad,
to head the delegation.
What will happen when the ceasefire ends?
Everything is in the will of the Almighty, and His
mercy is boundless. If the sober minds of our
Kremlin opponents are ascendant, we will end
the war at the negotiation table. Otherwise,
most likely, blood flow for a long time still, but
we will not bear the responsibility for this
insanity.
Immediately after your order, rumor arose of the
death of field commander Shamil Basaev. What
would you say about that?
I believe that it is his fifth of sixth death in the
last six years.
After the [terrorist act in Moscow in October
2003 at a performance of the musical] Nord-Ost,
Basaev stated that he would no longer be
subordinate to you. What would you say about
that?
Shamil Basaev has not been part of the structure
of the armed forces of Ichkeria since that time. It
is no secret from anybody that we have
disagreements, mainly due to his choosing
combat methods that are unacceptable to the
Chechen people. Basaev considers himself to
have the right to use such methods, to which I
am unable to agree to on principle. I have said it
many times and will not repeat myself now. After
the terrible, tragic events in Beslan, I declared to
the world that, after the end of the war, we will
officially hand over to the International Tribunal
all persons involved in crimes against humanity,
including Basaev, who is suspected in the seizure
of the theater in Dubrovka [where Nord-Ost
was playing] and the school in Beslan. Until then,
I will resist attempts by him and other
commanders to take action against the civilian
population of Russia. If Basaev abides by my
ceasefire order, I will consider myself to have had
great success in avoiding many terrorist acts that
are not acceptable to our side.
At the end of last week, again, immediately after
the declaration of a ceasefire, the Office of the
Prosecutor General of Russia announced new
accusations against you, including for Beslan. Can
you respond to them?
The accusations of a procuracy that well-known
for its infallibility do not worry me. When I think
of those tragic events, I often ask myself if I had
not waited for an answer from the Russian side
to my suggestion that I come to Beslan, but had
made some independent attempt to make my
way to the school, would I have been able to
prevent the cold-blooded and cynical murder of
the completely innocent children who were
sacrificed for the ambitions of monsters. I haven't
found the answer to my question yet.
They Don't Trust Aslan Maskhadov
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov has called
Maskhadov's ceasefire a bluff. “We have no basis
for taking his [Maskhadov's] latest
pronouncement about an end to the terror as
the whole truth,” Alkhanov said at a press
conference in Moscow on Saturday, noting that
“if Maskhadov and Basaev are really ready to stop
the terror, they don't need to set conditions, but
must give themselves up to law-enforcement
organs.” Alkhanov did, however, acknowledge
the possibility that the terrorist Basaev is dead.
“According to information we received seven or
eight months ago [when Alkhanov was head of
the Ministry of the Interior of Chechnya], Basaev
had problems with his kidneys and his leg that
had been operated on,” Alkhanov said, hinting
that the terrorist may have died of his illnesses.
Representatives of the command of Russian military groups in Chechnya immediately began
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 88 ~
to deny Maskhadov's intentions, and even the
authenticity of the rebel leader's statement. “Law
enforcement organs know for certain that the
information posted on the extremist sites by the
ideologues of the illegal armed formations has to
relationship to the statements purportedly made
by Maskhadov and Basaev,” Kommersant was
told at the Regional Operational Headquarters
for administering the counterterrorist operation
in the North Caucasus. A representative of that
office stated that 12 terrorist acts were
committed on the territory of the republic
between January 10 and February 3 (Maskhadov's
ceasefire went into effect on February 1).
The claims of the Russian and Chechen official
representatives are, in turn, denied by Umar
Khambiev, the general representative of the
Ichkerian president. “That simply want to present
us as irreconcilable bandits,” Khambiev told
Kommersant yesterday. He added that there were no grounds to doubt the authenticity of the
Ichkerian president's order to cease combat
activities. “I have spoken to him [Maskhadov]
personally about this matter,” Khambiev said.
“And the resistance fighter will strictly adhere to
the requirements of the presidential order on a
unilateral halt to combat activities. As of
February 1, there has not been a single attack
from our side. That has been acknowledged by all
who are observing events in Chechnya.”
by Musa Muradov
MASKHADOV FOLLOWS UP
CEASEFIRE WITH AN INTERVIEW
The Jamestown Foundation
CHECHNYA WEEKLY: News and Analysis on
the Crisis in Chechnya
9 February 2005 - Volume VI, Issue 6
On February 7, just four days after the Chechen
separatist Kavkazcenter website reported that
Aslan Maskhadov had ordered rebel fighters to
lay down their weapons for one month,
Kommersant published an interview with the
separatist leader. The newspaper reported that it
had transmitted its questions to Maskhadov
through his general representative abroad, Umar
Khambiev.
Asked why he had announced a ceasefire,
Maskahdov called it a "goodwill gesture" and "an
attempt to demonstrate devotion to peace and
call upon the Russian leadership to see reason."
"In my view, the processes taking place today in
the Caucasus are leading to catastrophe,"
Maskhadov said. "In this situation I consider it my
duty to undertake maximum efforts to avert the
real threat not only to my people, but to all the
people of Russia and the Caucasus. At the same time, I am not sure that President Vladimir Putin
is for certain informed about what a deep chasm
of catastrophe Russia and the whole Caucasus
are falling into. I believe that the political wills of
the presidents of Russian and Ichkeria are
capable of putting an end to this carnage.
Therefore my appeal above all was directed
precisely at the president of Russia, and then, of
course, to all whose consciences have not
degraded once and for all."
Maskhadov indicted there was no significance to
the fact that the ceasefire was announced for
February. (Some media gave significance to the
fact that rebel warlord Shamil Basaev, in his
February 3 order calling on separatist fighters to
obey Maskhadov's ceasefire, had announced the
ceasefire would last until February 22 – one day
before the 61st anniversary of Stalin's
deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people.)
Maskhadov also denied the ceasefire was
connected to the abduction of his relatives. "Many citizens of Chechnya are being kidnapped
and murdered already for the sixth year," he said.
"Therefore I do not believe that my family
feelings should prevail over the feeling of duty to
my people." He also denied that the ceasefire
was a demonstration of "strength": some
observers have speculated that in announcing the
ceasefire, Maskhadov was attempting to dispel
the view that he has no control over the rebel
movement's various field commanders.
Maskhadov said that in addition to ordering a
temporary cessation of all offensive military
actions, he also signed a decree naming "a
delegation for contacts with the Russian side,"
which will be headed by Umar Khambiev.
Noting that following the Dubrovka theater
hostage-taking in October 2002, Shamil Basaev
announced he was no longer taking orders from
Maskhadov, Kommersant asked Maskhadov
whether Basaev had again become his
subordinate. "Shamil Basaev has not been part of
the structures of the armed forces of Ichkeria
since that time," Maskhadov answered. "Our
differences, based above all on his choice of
methods of warfare that are unacceptable to the
Chechen side, are not a secret to anyone. Basaev
believes he has the right to use methods that I
cannot, on principle, agree with. I have
repeatedly spoken about this and therefore will
not repeat myself. After the terrible, tragic
events in Beslan, I told the world that after the
end of the war we will officially hand over to the
International Criminal Tribunal all individuals
involved in crimes against humanity, including
Basaev, who is suspected in the seizure of the
Dubrovka theater and the school in Beslan. And
until then, I will in every way possible [try to
prevent] both him and other commanders from carrying out any attacks against Russian civilians.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 89 ~
If Basaev obeys my truce order, I will consider
that I have succeeded in averting many terrorist
acts, which are unacceptable for our side."
Asked about rumor over the past week that
Basaev had been killed, Maskhadov said it was
"the fifth or sixth time in the past six years that
Shamil's ‘death' has been reported."
Not surprisingly, Chechen President Alu
Alkhanov dismissed both Maskhadov's reiteration
of his call for talks and his ceasefire
announcement. "Maskhadov's statement about
the one-sided cease-fire is a lie from the
beginning to the end," Alkhanov said, Ekho
Moskvy radio reported on February 8.
"Maskhadov is still expected at the prosecutor's
office." Chechen State Council Chairman Taus
Dzhabrailov told Interfax on February 7: "The
stand of the national administration is unwavering
– there will be no political contacts with Maskhadov and his circle." Earlier, Dzhabrailov
rejected Maskhadov's ceasefire as a "bluff."
While the Kremlin has not directly responded to
Maskhadov's unilateral ceasefire and offer to
negotiate, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin,
Federal Council Chairman Sergei Mironov, told
reporters on February 8 that he saw no basis for
"Russian power structures" to react in any way
to Maskhadov's recent statements. Like other
officials, Mironov questioned whether Maskhadov
"really controls anything in Chechnya," Yufo.ru
reported. On February 3, immediately after
Maskhadov's ceasefire announcement was made
public, the Prosecutor General's Office
announced that he was being charged with
complicity in organizing Beslan school hostage
seizure, for which Basaev claimed responsibility.
Despite the uniformly negative public reactions
by Russian officials, some observers say other
processes may be taking place behind the scenes.
"There are people around Putin who are
suggesting it is time to end the Chechen war,"
Aleksei Malashenko, a security analyst from the
Carnegie Center, told Reuters on February 3.
"Maskhadov and Basaev could see this is a
favorable time for such an approach."
Kommersant reported on February 8 that Umar
Khambiev had told the paper that Maskhadov's
initiatives had sparked the interest of "influential
European politicians" who are determined to
promote a resolution of the Chechen conflict.
"For the moment I cannot be any more specific
about this, but you will soon hear all about it,"
Khambiev told the newspaper. He also said: "We
have not received any proposals from the
Russian side, but we are hoping that it will
happen."
Meanwhile, Reuters on February 8 quoted a
source in the Russian government's media
supervisory service as saying that Kommersant
had been officially warned for publishing the
interview with Maskhadov. The interview, the
source told Interfax, "provided a terrorist
wanted by the federal authorities and Interpol
with an opportunity to publicly justify terrorism
and threaten continued terrorist activity."
According to Russian law, if a media outlet
receives three such warnings, the government
can seek a court order to close it down.
Hot-Shot
// Kommersant Warned Anonymously
KOMMERSANT Daily, FEBRUARY 09, 2005
Russia’s Federal Service for the Enforcement of
Media Legislation has issued an official warning to
Kommersant on inadmissibility of the RF laws’
violation.
The warning was released in respect of the
interview with Aslan Maskhadov published early
this week (Moscow Kommersant of February 7,
2005), Interfax cited yesterday night an
unidentified source with the above service as
saying. However, Kommersant has received no
official document to-time, when this issue was
sanctioned for press.
Kommersant will be keeping an eye on further
development of the situation.
Authorities issue warning to newspaper
over Chechnya interview
Committee to Protect Journalists
New York, February 9, 2005—Federal
authorities in Moscow have issued an official
warning to the independent Moscow daily
Kommersant for publishing a February 7
interview with Chechen rebel leader Aslan
Maskhadov, according to local and international
press reports.
The Federal Service for Oversight of Compliance
with Media Laws issued the warning Tuesday
under the Media Law and the Law Against
Extremist Activities, which bans the distribution
of information that supports "extremist
activities," according to the Russian news agency
Interfax.
By law, authorities can shut down media outlets
that receive three warnings in a year. This is
Kommersant's first warning in 2005. The
newspaper has yet to receive official notice of
the warning, but an unidentified official at the
regulatory agency said it would be sent later this
week, the Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy reported.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 90 ~
Georgii Ivanov, head of the legal department at
the Kommersant Publishing House, said the
publisher was planning to challenge the validity of
the warning in court, Ekho Moskvy reported.
Ivanov said the newspaper succeeded in having a
court strike down an April 2000 warning issued
after Kommersant published a similar interview
with Maskhadov.
In the recent interview, Maskhadaov called on
President Vladimir Putin to open peace talks with
the rebels in response to their unilateral
ceasefire, something Putin has refused to do.
Recent polls show that about half of Russians
support some form of official contact between
the government and the rebels, Agence France-
Presse reported.
Russian law enforcement officials placed a $10
million bounty on Maskhadov and a second rebel leader, Shamil Basayev, after a string of deadly
attacks against Russian forces and civilians.
Under Putin, the Kremlin has intensified its
efforts to block news coverage of rebel views.
The Foreign Ministry pressured several
neighboring countries to shut down the pro-
rebel news Web site Kavkazcenter last year, and
it strongly criticized British authorities last week
for allowing Channel 4 independent television to
broadcast an interview with Basayev, according
to press reports.
Kommersant will be presented with official
warning - media supervision service
MOSCOW. Feb 9, 2005 (Interfax) - The Russian
federal media supervision service will present
Kommersant daily with an official warning that
was issued to it on Tuesday for publishing an
interview with Chechen separatist leader Aslan
Maskhadov earlier this week.
"This warning will be delivered directly to the
Kommersant editorial office this week, most
likely on Thursday," the secretariat of the service
chief, Boris Boyarskov, told Interfax on
Wednesday.
Service experts concluded that the interview
with Maskhadov titled 'Aslan Maskhadov: My Call
is Addressed to the President of Russia' and
published in Kommersant on February 7 contains
information excusing and justifying the need to
pursue extremist activities.
"Publishing the interview, the newspaper
provided a terrorist placed on federal and
Interpol wanted lists for criminally punished
deeds with the opportunity to publicly justify terrorism and threaten continued terrorist
activities," the source said.
The Kommersant management said the
newspaper will contest the warning in court.
Warning to Kommersant Over Maskhadov
Interview Deemed Counterproductive
Moscow Politkom.ru WWW-Text in Russian 09
Feb 05
[Article by Dmitriy Bagiro: "Technology of
Terror"]
Against the backdrop of demagoguery about the
fight against international terrorism the world
mass media are eagerly engaging in PR for the
gunmen. Respectable Western TV channels are
not only quoting the Bin Ladin statements
planted by the Arab mass media but also
interviewing the ringleaders of the Chechen
gunmen on their own initiative. Moreover, The Times, which gave a detailed account of Basayev's
threats and accusations against the Russian
authorities, does not even think it necessary to
conceal that the dissemination of this information
is aimed at undermining the prestige of the
Russian president.
An even more unpleasant impression is created
by the media orgy in certain Russian mass media
that rapturously circulate the harshest
expressions of Basayev and Maskhadov -- first
citing the gunmen's websites, then in the form of
selected passages from Western newspapers, and
then as reports on the British TV company's
program. The upshot of this propaganda
onslaught is notions foisted on society
concerning the "criminal Russian regime," which
did not spare even children, and also the idea
that Basayev has every right to stage actions like
Beslan as long as Russian citizens support the
"criminal regime."
It looks as though the best-known separatist
leaders decided their roles in advance in
ostentatiously announcing a "truce," which is not
being observed, incidentally, and attempting for
the umpteenth time to mobilize Russian society
for the struggle against Putin under the slogan of
the "need to begin peace talks with Maskhadov."
Basayev, who is threatening a "repetition of
Beslan," assumed the role of "bad cop," and
Maskhadov, who is promising to hand over
Basayev for trial and addressing his calls for peace
talks directly to Putin, is playing the part of "good
cop."
The "bad" Basayev is articulating his propaganda
on Chechen websites and in the Western mass
media, while the "good" Maskhadov invites the
Russian president to sit down at the negotiating table in an interview with Russia's Kommersant.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 91 ~
However, the point of this game is quite obvious:
It is paving the way so that, after Basayev's next
high-profile terrorist act, Maskhadov can declare
that he gave due warning but was not heeded and
again demand peace talks, this time under the
patronage of international observers.
And we can be confident that the mass media will
again circulate with pleasure the next calls for
talks and criticisms of the Russian authorities,
quite unabashed by the fact that the lives of
Russian citizens are always used as weighty
arguments in such scenarios for "forcing peace."
This vicious circle can be broken only by
neutralizing the gunmen's leaders, but it
transpires that this task is too difficult.
It is far easier to read the riot act to the
Kommersant editorial office, which published an
interview with Aslan Maskhadov 7 February.
However, this interview, which is devoted to the peace initiatives of the former president of
independent Ichkeria, looks totally innocent
compared with Basayev's statements.
Nevertheless the Federal Service for Monitoring
the Observance of Legislation in the Sphere of
Mass Communication deemed it possible to issue
an official warning to the Kommersant editorial
office.
Judging by agency reports, the Federal Service
saw the publication of the Maskhadov interview
as a violation of the provisions of the law "on the
Mass Media" (Article 4) and the law "On
Countering Extremist Activity" (Article 11),
which prohibit the use of the mass media for
extremist activity and also the dissemination via
the mass media of material establishing or
justifying the need for such activity.
However, the text of Maskhadov's interview
contains neither propaganda for extremist
activity nor justification of the need for it.
Moreover, Maskhadov condemns Basayev and
calls on the Russian authorities to "end the war
around the negotiating table." Basically it must be
admitted that the people who prepared the final
text of the interview were careful not to violate
the letter of the law.
As a result the impression is created that the
staffers of the Federal Service either simply did
not peruse the text of Maskhadov's interview, or
confused him with Basayev, or, unable to punish
the British TV channel for circulating truly
extremist remarks, decided to take it out on
Russia's Kommersant. However, it will be difficult
to do this, provided that the court considers the
substance of the matter without taking into
account the newspaper's possible role in playing
out the aforementioned "good cop-bad cop" scenario.
It was for this reason that Andrey Vasilyev,
Kommersant's general director, and Georgiy
Ivanov, the head of the publication's legal service,
immediately stated that they intend to protest
the warning in court and expressed confidence
that they will win the case, especially as there
have been similar precedents before. Moreover,
the court hearing will readily provide another
media excuse for another wave of publicity for
the statements of Maskhadov and Basayev in the
other mass media.
It appears that the Russian authorities are not
only losing the media war foisted upon them, but
also creating favorable conditions for its
continuation. This is despite the fact that it is
totally clear to any impartial observer that today,
as on the eve of Nord-Ost, the preconditions are
being created for the next terrorist act to make a
particularly loud splash after the end of the "truce."
Russian Media Behavior Viewed With New
Twist
Moscow Compromat.ru WWW-Text in Russian
10 Feb 05
[Article by Valentin Rakitin: Berezovskiy Wants
His Media to Die. Kommersant, Ekho Moskvy
Will Be Closed Down Soon]
The Russian government could close down media
outlets controlled by Boris Berezovskiy in the
near future. Everyone except the state would
stand to gain from the sensational closing down
of Kommersant and the radio station Ekho
Moskvy. There is nothing surprising about that.
After all, Boris Berezovskiy would stand to gain
from it.
In this connection it is interesting to see how the
course of the development of future events can
easily be miscalculated. The behavior of the
"Berezovskian" media has already clearly assumed
the character of informational masochism.
Give me pain
It is not only Boris Abramovich who is known for
his inclination toward masochism. Generally
speaking, this frequently happens with members
of the opposition: Come on, boss, beat me, beat
me. Why are you not beating me? Does this
mean you will not beat me? A-a-a, you hit me,
you asshole! Well try one more time -- don't
laugh. Come on. Ah ... so good. Just once more.
You would not dare to do it again. ..."
Vladimir Gusinskiy was the first member of the
Russian opposition to take the path of business masochism. He made a bad bet and he lost. After
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 92 ~
his loss it was necessary, as the stock market
players say, to fix the mistakes -- to make a clean
break of it, to weigh his chances, and, finally, to
return to the gaming table.
As we know, things did not work out for
Gusinskiy. Vladimir Aleksandrovich had so little
understanding of the rules of the genre of
political dramaturgy that he was wiped out. He
does not get to Moscow much anymore. He
wanders along the fringes. No eating in
restaurants on Tverskaya, no more hearing the
Kremlin clock strike the hours, no more making
money on elections. There is no fun in Goosy's
life. The only thing left of his life is the past. Lost
business, lost influence, gray hair, and an order
for his arrest.
Another well-known member of the opposition
is Mikhail Khodorkovskiy. There is no doubt that
he is an intelligent chap -- a cut above Gusinskiy. His exceptional talent as a businessman
protected Khodorkovskiy from the turmoil and
hardship of more than one five-year plan of
work. Even during the crisis of 1998 when the
largest business empires built up around the
commercial banks crashed, Khodorkovskiy
managed to earn money. Menatep Investors
received their devalued deposits with a delay of
several months or even years, and they were
even glad to get that because many depositors
did not receive their savings back at all. I recall
that in 1990 people were saying in all seriousness
that the only decent banker was Khodorkovskiy.
They said he almost did not rob them at all.
Perhaps that was when Mikhail Borisovich
recognized the great magic of receiving
forgiveness from the humbled. If you take
something away from people and then, after the
people's indignation is replaced by hopelessness,
you return half of it, you can win the hearts of
those who have been robbed ... But
Khodorkovskiy too was defeated by masochism.
After all, he brought it on himself. It would seem
that if you have a delicate relationship with the
Tax Code you should sit quietly. The more so
since the history of oil and all kinds of apatite
acquisitions is filled with events which it is
unpleasant to contemplate, but then it is
impossible to forget them. Yes, others may buy
the independent press and you may too, but like
the others you should keep your nose clean.
If you are going to earn money in Russia, then
think about Russia's interests. But no, the man
has been separated from the land. Perhaps with
his endless string of meetings with the West
European and American establishment, Mikhail
Borisovich became befuddled. There are many
countries in the world whose governments are prepared to "protect private property"
(especially if it is located in somnolent, uncivilized
Russia) without paying attention to how this
property was acquired, and, it seems,
Khodorkovskiy seriously believed that the
Russian laws did not apply to him. But when the
government sent out the signal -- "what are you
doing, Mish?" -- the masochist also awakened in
the intelligent Khodorkovskiy. Well, beat me.
No, do not laugh -- my protector will not
approve of you. What, have you nothing to say?
Well, try ... The more densely the clouds
gathered around Khodorkovskiy's head, the
more loudly the shriek of usurped freedom could
be heard. It seemed to the oilman's PR people
that it was advantageous to suffer the blows;
each kick would bring supporters to
Khodorkovskiy.
And then suddenly it became clear that, in the
first place, the Yukos company and Mikhail
Borisovich himself and his comrades were under Russian jurisdiction, and, in the second place,
histrionics did not help. It all turned out to be a
bad business and in especially large amounts! But,
after all, everything necessary was there -- to
remember the past and to know honor. The
lucky businessman, who had traveled the path
from a Soviet citizen making money off of
foreigners to the owner of a giant oil holding
company, became rich, but was still a convict.
Boris Berezovskiy did not become a convict -- a
reliable protector makes it possible for
disgraceful wolves to get hooked up with an
upright citizen. But still, as we recently learned,
masochism is no stranger to Boris Abramovich
either.
Losing in order to win
Berezovskiy wants pain. He has a presence in
Russia in the form of a number of media outlets
that depend on him in a certain way. That means
things will be painful for them. The process is
already underway.
The newspaper Kommersant has published an
interview with the leader of the Chechen
terrorists, Aslan Maskhadov. It is generally
known that the failed separatist has blood on his
hands and that he is on the federal wanted list
and the Interpol wanted list. Finally, the Kremlin's
attitude toward him is generally known.
Nevertheless, Kommersant published a lengthy
interview with him, from which it appears that
the noble bandit is tired of killing. Maskhadov
wants to negotiate.
And how! This is the only means of legalization
for Maskhadov. After all, so far the only
government representatives who want to speak with him are the FSB and the Prosecutor's Office.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 93 ~
He is a terrorist. As soon as the federal
government sits down at the negotiating table
with him he becomes a politician. This is the kind
of transformation that once took place with Yasir
Arafat. Quite reasonably the Kremlin does not
want to bring Maskhadov-Arafat trouble down
upon its own head, and so it refuses to recognize
the terrorist as a politician. The publication of an
interview with the president of the self-
proclaimed state in Kommersant changes the
playing field: Maskhadov is made into a political
figure, who for some reason the Kremlin does
not want to listen to.
Clearly, the government could not like this.
Naturally, the government warned the
newspaper about the unacceptability of such a
game "on the foul line."
And something else is clear as well. Such a thing
will be repeated -- Kommersant will be playing on the foul line until the very end. Because it is
advantageous. A newspaper is an intangible thing;
it cannot be destroyed. The government can only
appeal to the court and revoke its license. The
newspaper's shareholders will pour their
resources into a private account beforehand
(Boris Abramovich knows how this is done -- he
ran Aeroflot) so that their physical property will
not be threatened. The journalistic collective will
still be intact, especially if they are not cheated
on their wages. It is no problem to obtain a
license for a new newspaper. (Incidentally, this
pertains to Novaya Gazeta as well.) It will be the
same Kommersant, with the same logo, and the
same readership. But all that will be enhanced by
the aura of martyrdom, of a champion
publication. Putin's totalitarian regime will
pressure them in all kinds of ways, but the
intrepid bulwark of freedom of speech will live
and emerge victorious. The government's closing
down of Berezovskiy's newspapers is
advantageous to the out-of-favor oligarch.
The radio station Ekho Moskvy is also
experiencing something similar. Anti-Putinism has
practically become the foundation of editorial
rhetoric recently, and it would seem that the
observers have forgotten that the claptrap about
the terrible Putin regime gives their programs an
extremely marginal coloration. Any PR specialist
knows that in order for propaganda to be
effective what is targeted to the negative must be
actively mixed with neutral information or, even
better, an opposing opinion once in a while. But
what we hear on the air sounds like barely
restrained hysteria. Sometimes you want to say:
Well all right, I understand how Yuliya Latynina
feels; soon that damned Putin will have polished
off all employers, but what about the rest of the
people?
At the level of slander Ekho Moskvy is giving out
information about plans "to become a victim of
the regime" following Kommersant's scenario.
That would not be difficult. A couple of
telephone interviews with that same Maskhadov
and goodbye license. The entire world would
shout: Oh what is going on here?! Ekho's leaders
would throw up their hands: Our civic
conscience would not allow us to reject an
interview with a separatist; after all, Chechnya is
our pain, but look at the regime we have in our
country ... Boris Berezovskiy is raising his voice in
defense of freedom of speech. Vladimir Putin is
becoming a Milosevic.
The scenario is unbeatable. As in the case with
Kommersant, the leadership of the information
publication has nothing to lose -- the entire
collective will transfer to the bridge company --
radio Arsenal, which belongs to the "labor
collective." Arsenal is ready for battle and is already broadcasting with the same voices as
Ekho used.
Ekho's situation has an interesting aspect. They
say that the credit funds of Gazprom, to which
the radio station belongs, have been used to
purchase apartments for Ekho management
personnel. The credit is long-term, the rate is
preferential, and everything is in order. The
credit documents are being prepared, but if the
shop is closed down too quickly the heads of the
independent journalists will not receive their
inexpensive housing. Therefore a move beyond
the "foul line" was scheduled for the time after
the collective had moved in. And it was right.
They can suffer for human causes a little later,
but for now let the state-owned Gazprom cough
up some money for the crusaders against the
regime.
But the leaders' monetary affairs are trivial
compared to the earmarked "Berezovskiy
revolution." Boris Abramovich himself thinks
globally and understands the peculiarities of the
media business. Back in 2001 when Vladimir
Gusinskiy transferred the NTV collective from
Gazprom to Channel TV-6, which belongs to
Berezovskiy, the latter resolutely kicked the
company's old personnel out of the offices and
studios -- the employees were ordered to
"vacate the premises" for new people. Nobody
even heard about the human tragedies of the
young people who were fired -- meanwhile the
sensational demarche of the titans of freedom
crusading against the regime was being discussed
all over the world. Why not shake up your own
media one more time?
The closing down of Berezovskiy's PR
instruments by the hand of the Kremlin regime is advantageous to the out-of-favor oligarch. Based
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 94 ~
on that, we can assume that the scandalous
interviews promoting Chechen terrorists will
continue in the corresponding media outlets.
Paper Hopes 'Warning' Over Interview
With Terrorist Will Be Dropped
Moscow Izvestiya (Moscow Edition) in Russian 10
Feb 05 p 3
[Report by Nadezhda Stepanova: "Maskhadov
Compromises Kommersant"]
The Kommersant publishing house is in trouble
again. In the very near future the paper will be
issued with an official warning by the Federal
Service for Oversight of the Observance of
Legislation in the Sphere of Mass
Communications and the Protection of Cultural
Heritage. The state agency did not like the
interview with Aslan Maskhadov published on 7
February in which the rebel leader appealed for a truce in Chechnya. In the words of a Service
staffer who wished to remain anonymous, the
piece entitled "Aslan Maskhadov: My Appeal is
Addressed to the President of Russia" "seeks to
establish and to justify the need to carry out
extremist activity."
In a report carried by news agencies a Federal
Service spokesperson stated that the publication
of the interview with Maskhadov "violated the
provisions of Article 4 of the law 'On the Media'
and Article 11 of the law 'On Countering
Extremist Activity,' which prohibit the use of the
media to propagandize extremist activity as well
as the dissemination via the media of material
seeking to establish or justify the need to engage
in such activity."
The news that the warning was being issued
came as a surprise. Never before has the Federal
Service voiced its complaints against a specific
media outlet out loud. "We will be announcing
that we have issued a warning to someone. Is
that suddenly going to damage the business
reputation of the media," department staffers
asked in support of their refusal to say who
precisely, in their view, was breaking the law. In
the era of the Press Ministry, the issuance of
warnings to the media was open information.
The news about Kommersant spread like wildfire
-- even before the text of the warning has arrived
on the editor's desk. "We do want to appeal
against the warning, but first we need to see it --
it is a matter of the specific wording,"
Kommersant Chief Editor Aleksandr Stukalin has
announced. "You need to have a sophisticated
kind of awareness to assess an appeal for peace
as propagandizing extremism," Kommersant legal
service chief Georgiy Ivanov added. The source in the Federal Service confirmed that the warning
has not yet been sent, because the text has not
yet been edited. "The report of the warning was
leaked. We were not planning to release it to the
press," Izvestiya's interlocutor stressed.
The question can arise of halting a media outlet's
operations if it is issued with two or more
warnings in a year. The Federal Service has the
right if it so wishes to hand over documentation
to the courts, which then decide what to do with
the offending outlet.
The warning now being drawn up could be
anulled, though. In 2000 the Ministry for the
Press, Radio and Television Broadcasting, and
Mass Communications issued a warning to
Kommersant, declaring that the publication had
broken the law. That incident was also linked to
an interview with Maskhadov, but the newspaper
was reproached not with extremism but with
propagandizing terrorist activity. The warning was challenged in court, and the court ruled in
Kommersant's favor. Since then, not a single
warning has been issued to the newspaper.
Russian media warned against reporting on
Chechen rebels
Reporter: Emma Griffiths
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
ABC Local Radio
PM - Friday, 11 February , 2005 18:38:00
PAUL LOCKYER: Russian authorities have
slapped another warning on the country's media,
this time over an interview with a Chechen rebel
leader. The interview was published on the front
page of Russia's business daily, Kommersant.
Moscow Correspondent Emma Griffiths reports
that this warning is the latest attempt by the
Kremlin to force an information black-out on the
Chechen rebels.
(Sound of news theme)
EMMA GRIFFITHS: Occasionally news from
Chechnya is shown on Russian television, but
more often than not it features the Kremlin-
favourite – the region's President, Alu Alhanov.
(Sound of Alu Alhanov speaking)
Here he is, talking in response to rumours that
the Chechen rebel responsible for the Beslan
school siege was dead.
"I tend to believe it was caused by his kidney
disease and the consequences of an operation,"
he says.
There's been no official confirmation that Shamil Basayev is dead or alive, but a video statement
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 95 ~
from the man himself has appeared on Chechen
website kavkaz centre.com. In it he says his
kidneys are fine, and stabs a knife into his
wooden leg.
The website has repeatedly run afoul of the
Russian authorities, who say it's a notorious
mouthpiece for Chechen terrorists. The site has
been forced to move between several European
countries, as each one in turn has come under
pressure to shut it down.
This month, Shamil Basayev has also appeared on
British television's Channel 4 News, revealing he
was planning more attacks similar to Beslan.
Russia described the report as "irresponsible"
and demanded the British Government block the
broadcast, to no avail.
But Russian authorities have had more success
limiting coverage of Chechnya at home – most recently they've turned on the daily business
broadsheet, Kommersant. This week, it published
an interview with another key Chechen leader,
former President Aslan Maskhadov.
In the interview he confirms that he's called a
ceasefire in the region and says it's a gesture of
goodwill that runs out later this month. He
warns when the ceasefire ends, blood will flow
for a long time.
The Russian media supervision service has
presented Kommersant with an official warning
about the interview, claiming it contains
information excusing and justifying extremist
activities. Under government regulations, a media
outlet is allowed three warnings every year, then
it can be shut down. This is Kommersant's first
for the year.
Editor in Chief, Alexander Stukalin.
"Kommersant faced a very simple task," he says.
"When last week we were informed about
Maskhadov's order for a ceasefire, the authorities
stated that Maskhadov controls nothing. Our
task was to find out the truth – there was no
other way but to approach him. It was our job as
journalists."
Kommersant plans to fight the warning in court,
something they successfully did five years ago.
But first the court must agree to hear the case,
and analysts warn these days such agreement is
increasingly rare.
This is Emma Griffiths in Moscow for PM.
Russian Paper Cautioned for Publishing
Interview With Chechen Separatist Moscow Ekho Moskvy Radio in Russian 1400
GMT 11 Feb 05
[Excerpt] [Announcer] A supervisory service has
once again reminded the Kommersant
newspaper that it was given a caution three days
ago over the publication of an interview with
[Chechen separatist leader] Aslan Maskhadov.
Yevgeniya Ten reports.
[Correspondent Yevgeniya Ten] The caution
from the federal service controlling the
observation of the law in the sphere of mass
communications has not yet reached the
Kommersant editorial office although the
newspaper's legal department was notified that
the document would be faxed and mailed to it.
I will remind you that the reason for the caution
was the publication in the 7 February edition of
an interview with the Chechen separatists' leader
Aslan Maskhadov. According to experts in the service, and I quote, by publishing the interview
the newspaper's editorial office gave the terrorist
an opportunity to justify terrorism in public and
to threaten to continue terrorist activities. The
newspaper's management is planning to file a legal
appeal against the caution. [passage omitted:
Kommersant has received similar warnings from
the authorities in the past]
Paper To Be Warned Over Rebel
Interview
By Anatoly Medetsky
STAFF WRITER
St. Petersburg Times
#1044, Tuesday, February 15, 2005
MOSCOW - The government plans to issue a
warning to Kommersant for violating an anti-
extremism law by publishing an interview with
Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, a
government spokesman said Wednesday. Under
the law, the government may ask a court to close
a publication after two warnings in a one-year
period.
The newspaper denied any wrongdoing and said
it ran the interview Feb. 7 to provide a first-
person account of Maskhadov's cease-fire order
and his call for peace talks. Some government
officials called the order "a lie" after it was
announced on rebel web sites.
The Federal Service for Media Law Compliance
and Cultural Heritage is having experts analyze
the interview and is working on the text of the
warning that will formally appear "in the near
future," said a spokesman for the service, who
asked not to be named.
By publishing the interview, Kommersant violated Article 4 of the 1991 Law on Mass Media and
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 96 ~
Article 11 of the 2002 Law on Counteracting
Extremist Activity, the spokesman said.
The media law prohibits a publication from
promoting or assisting "extremist activity," while
the anti-extremism law prohibits the media from
disseminating "materials that support or justify
extremist activity." The anti-extremist law states
that a court may close a publication after it
receives two warnings within 12 months. The
law, however, does not force the government to
take legal action, so a publication may be allowed
to stay open even after receiving a second
warning, the spokesman said.
Georgy Ivanov, head of Kommersant's legal
department, denied that the interview justified
terrorism. "It calls for peace, if you read it," he
said by telephone Wednesday. If the warning is
issued, Kommersant will most likely dispute it in
court, Ivanov said.
In one of his most aggressive statements in the
interview, Maskhadov is quoted as saying, "If the
sober mind of our Kremlin opponents prevails,
we'll end the war at the negotiating table. If not,
the bloodshed will likely continue for a long
time."
Kommersant relayed questions and received
answers through a Maskhadov envoy, whose
whereabouts the newspaper did not disclose.
Andrei Richter, director of Moscow's Media Law
and Policy Institute, said the warning could be
intended to give Kommersant, a Boris
Berezovsky-owned daily, a "cold shower" and
discourage other media from giving space or
airtime to people the Kremlin does not like.
Kommersant's prospects of disputing a warning
in court are likely very slim, as in 90 percent of
cases courts refuse to consider such complaints,
Richter said. But if a court agrees to hear the
case, Kommersant could easily win, he said.
In 2000, the government warned Kommersant
for publishing an interview with Maskhadov, but a
court overturned the warning, Kommersant
general director Andrei Vasilyev said Feb. 8,
Interfax reported.
"It was an exception, not the rule," Richter said
about the court's willingness to hear the case.
Three Russian newspapers - the National
Bolshevik Party's Limonka newspaper, Den and
Gubernskiye Vesti - have been closed after
warnings, but those were over inciting ethnic
hatred, Richter said.
Warning Letter KOMMERSANT Documents, FEBRUARY 24,
2005
Federal Service for supervision of observing the
law in the sphere of mass communication and
cultural heritage protection within the limits of
the authorities in the stated line considered the
subject matter of the Aslan Maskhadov’s
interview, published under the headline “Aslan
Maskhadov: my call is for the President” in the
Kommersant newspaper n.20 [3104] as of
February 7, 2005.
Kommersant newspaper office
Building 1
4, Vrubel street
Mosocw
123308
Ministry of Culture and Mass Communication of
the Russian Federation
Federal Service for supervision of observing the
law in the sphere of mass communication and
cultural heritage protection
12, Malaya Nikitskaya street
Moscow
121069
Tel: 290-5207 Fax:291-9911
To № ____ of
WARNING LETTER
Federal Service for supervision of observing the
law in the sphere of mass communication and
cultural heritage protection within the limits of
the authorities in the stated line considered the
subject matter of the Aslan Maskhadov’s
interview, published under the headline “Aslan
Maskhadov: my call is for the President” in the
Kommersant newspaper n.20 [3104] as of
February 7, 2005.
It’s ascertained that introducing the article, the
newspaper said that the interview was a
possibility for Maskhadov to comment on his order to wrap up a truce and cease fire that he
had supposedly issued.
Answering the newspaper question “what will
happen after the truce?”, Maskhadov replies: “If
the sober mind of our Kremlin opponents
prevail, we will stop the war at the negotiating
table; if it doesn’t, then it’s more likely that the
blood will carry on running, but we will abdicate
all responsibility for this madness.”
Once the editors published the interview, they
gave the possibility to the terrorist who was on
the wanted list of Russian MIA and Interpol, to
publicly justify terrorism and threaten with the
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 97 ~
further terrorist activity.
The subject under discussion has the information
that grounds and justifies the necessity of the
extreme activity.
According to the section 4 of the Russian Act as
of 27.12.1991 n.2124-1 “About the Mass Media”,
it is prohibited to use the mass media for
operating any extreme activity. According to the
section 11 of the Federal act as of 15.07. 2002
n.114-F3 “About the opposition to extreme
activity”, it is prohibited to propagate the
materials grounding or justifying the necessity of
the extreme activity.
Thus, having published “Aslan Maskhadov: my call
is for the President” Maskhadov’s interview, the
editors of Kommersant broke the above stated
statutes of the Federal Laws.
According to the section 6.4 of the Regulations
of the Federal Service for supervision of
observing the law in the sphere of mass
communication and cultural heritage protection,
confirmed by the Russian Federation government
on June 17, 2004 n. 301, the Federal Service has
the right to apply measures of limitative,
restrictive or preventive character that are aimed
to exclusion and (or) liquidation of the aftermath
of the violations of the orders by a juridical
person and citizens within the limits of the
authorities.
By virtue of the above stated in accordance with
the authorities and following the section 16 of
the Russian Federation Act as of 27.12.1991
n.2124-1 “About the Mass Media” and sections 5
and 8 of the Federal Act as of 15.07.2002 n.114-
F3 “About the opposition to extreme activity”,
the Federal Service for supervision of observing
the law in the sphere of mass communication and
cultural heritage protection gives Kommersant a
written warning letter of inadmissibility of
breaking Russian Federation Law.
Chief Boris A. Boyarskov
Chief Editor Rejects Charges Cited in
Warning Over 7 Feb Maskhadov Interview
Moscow Kommersant in Russian 24 Feb 05
[Report by Kommersant Chief Editor Aleksandr
Stukalin: "Kommersant Is Also an Appellant Now.
Why Kommersant Is Going To Appeal Against
Warning for Aslan Maskhadov's Interview" --
taken from HTML version of source provided by
ISP]
Last Tuesday (22 February), the Kommersant
editorial office finally received the text of the official warning about inadmissibility of breaching
Russian legislation, which had been issued to the
newspaper by the Russian Federation Federal
Service for Monitoring Observance of Legislation
in the Sphere of Mass Communication and
Protection of Cultural Heritage. Document No
23/1-5/1-846 is dated 9 February and signed by
service head Boris Boyarskov. Kommersant was
suspected of breaching the Russian Federation's
legislation following an interview with Chechen
separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov speaking
about his unilateral suspension of military
operations in Chechnya, which was published on
7 February. Mr Boyarskov believes that it
"contained information justifying and defending
the need for carrying out extremist activities."
The editorial office categorically disagrees with
this kind of interpretation of the interview by the
functionary and is going to challenge the warning
in court. In view of the above, Kommersant
considers it necessary to explain to its readers its
reasoning behind the decision to publish the interview with Aslan Maskhadov.
The publishing of Aslan Maskhadov's interview
entitled "My Appeal Is Addressed to the Russian
President" had its pre-history. The Chechen
separatist Kavkaz-Tsentr website
(www.kavkaz.tv) reported in the evening of 2
February that Aslan Maskhadov had ordered his
subordinates "to suspend unilaterally offensive
military operations on entire ChRI (Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria -- Kommersant note)
territory and beyond its borders (see the 3
February issue of Kommersant). Kavkaz-Tsentr
pointed out that it did not have the text of
Maskhadov's order, but to corroborate its
statement, cited a similar order issued by
another Chechen gunmen leader -- Shamil
Basayev.
The piece of news did not pass unnoticed by the
Russian and foreign mass media. Over the
following several days Aslan Maskhadov's
initiative was actively discussed by many
politicians and functionaries at the media's
initiative. Most opinions boiled down to the
conclusion that did not aspire to be regarded as
in-depth analysis: The order issued by the leader
of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria was
nothing but a bluff and part of a PR campaign.
Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Federation
Council Defense and Security Committee,
Vladimir Vasilyev, chairman of the State Duma
Security Committee, Chechen President Alu
Alkhanov, Chechen Prime Minister Sergey
Abramov, Ruslan Kasayev, chief of the Chechen
Ministry of Internal Affairs operational-
investigative unit, and many other people
commented on Aslan Maskhadov's words roughly
along these lines.
Basically, there was nothing unexpected in these
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 98 ~
opinions. One has the right to interpret Aslan
Maskhadov's actions at one's own discretion.
After all, it was unlikely that any independent
observers seriously believed that the
aforementioned people representing the
authorities could seriously speculate about the
possibility of a similar reciprocal step on the
Kremlin's part or the prospects of peaceful
settlement of the confrontation with the
Ichkerian leader. However, one commentary did
stand out in that group.
It was not made by a Russian legislator or a
Chechen civil functionary; it was provided by a
structure that may not be authorized to hold
negotiations with Chechen gunmen, but at least
is always required to possess verified information
about Chechnya and knows how to tell a bluff
from objective reality. FSB Major General Ilya
Shabalkin representing the Regional Operational
Headquarters [ROSh] the counterterrorist operation in the North Caucasus, who in fact is
the only person authorized to express the
security department's official opinions, stated in
his interview with Kommersant on 3 February:
"Law enforcement organs know that information
posted by bandit formations' ideologists on the
extremist websites has no relation whatsoever to
the statements allegedly made by Maskhadov and
Basayev.... All references to the leaders of the
bandit clandestine movement are invented,
whereas the very texts of the statements are
fruits of Movladi Udugov's (one of Chechen
separatist ideologists -- Kommersant note) and
his associates' fantasy" (see the 4 February issue
of Kommersant). Similar statements were
disseminated on behalf of the ROSh by the ITAR-
TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies.
Therefore, it appeared from Mr Shabalkin's
words that the order to cease fire was a
fabrication and Udugov's canard and that the
mass media were purposelessly misleading their
audience, whereas politicians and functionaries
were wasting time commenting on something
that never existed in nature. We could have
simply accepted the authoritative opinion of the
ROSh representative and could have quietly
tackled other issues. However, Kommersant
decided to get to the bottom of the situation
ever more so since Article 77 of the Russian
Federation Law "On Mass Media" grants
journalists the right to verify the reliability of
information obtained regardless of whether it
comes from Chechen separatist websites or from
FSB generals. One can hardly assert that under
the circumstances the editorial office had any
other way to verify the facts than approach the
author of the allegedly nonexistent edict Aslan
Maskhadov himself, at least through an
intermediary. In this situation Maskhadov's general representative Umar Khambiyev acted in
this capacity (which Kommersant honestly
admitted to its readers in the editorial
introduction preceding the interview).
In essence, the interview with Aslan Maskhadov
had to give a clear-cut answer to the main
question asked by Kommersant's audience, which
undoubtedly includes FSB General Ilya Shabalkin,
too: "Did he or did he not issue the order on a
unilateral ceasefire?" Since nobody raised the
issue of "Movladi Udugov's fantasies" after the
publication of the interview, the editorial office
believes that it fulfilled its task and that it is
senseless to look for some hidden extremist
sense in it. We dare hope that the overwhelming
majority of our readers share our opinion. At
least none among our readers, who are often
oversensitive and excessively vigilant when these
kinds of issues are raised, did not notice any
justification of extremism in the interview (I
assure you that we do not have any problems with feedback -- take my word for it).
We can only regret that people at the Federal
Service for Monitoring Observance of Legislation
in the Sphere of Mass Communication and
Protection of Cultural Heritage interpreted the
publication along these very lines. It was stated
directly in the warning about inadmissibility of
"breaching the Russian Federation's legislation"
issued to Kommersant's editorial office on its
behalf and signed by service head Boris
Boyarskov that "the publication under discussion
contains information justifying and defending the
need for carrying out extremist activities."
Russian legislation does not provide a clear-cut
definition of this kind of information and
Kommersant will undoubtedly ask functionaries
from Mr Boyarskov's department to prove their
postulate in court (the newspaper can be closed
down if it receives another warning of this kind
within a year from the first one). Particularly
since we already have this kind of experience:
Kommersant received a warning five years ago.
Back then it was issued by the Russian Federation
Ministry of the Press. We were warned for an
interview with the selfsame Aslan Maskhadov
that had similar contents and was published
under a similar headline: "I Suspend Military
Operations" (see the 21 April 2000 issue of
Kommersant). Some time later, the Tverskoy
Inter-Municipal Court in Moscow's Central
Administrative District simply rescinded it
following the editorial office's complaint.
Maskhadov's Cease-Fire Declaration and Peace Overtures, Feb 2005
~ 99 ~
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