Chechens Seek Peace Talks but Agenda Differs

05/05/2001| IslamWeb

MOSCOW (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Russia and Chechen Resistance leaders said Wednesday they hoped to hold peace talks within the next 10 days, but the two sides appeared divided from the outset over whether their discussions would focus on disarming the Resistance.
The proposed talks would be the first contact between the Kremlin and the insurgents since Russia launched its second post-Soviet military drive in the region in 1999.
The issue was raised as Western countries have shown increasing understanding of President Vladimir Putin's assertions that the Kremlin is fighting terrorists in Chechnya. However Muslim street support for the Chechen resistance remains unshaken. (Read photo caption below)
Putin, in a policy speech on September 24, ruled out any compromise with the Resistance and gave them 72 hours to start talks on disarmament with Russian officials. His deadline passed with no response from the Resistance or Russian punitive action.
Putin's envoy in southern Russia, Viktor Kazantzev, first announced the prospect of talks, saying a Chechen aide of Resistance leader, elected Chechen president, now in forced exile, Aslan Maskhadov had wanted to discuss Putin's latest initiatives to end the conflict in the region.
``Akhmed Zakayev called me to say that after long deliberations he was asking for a meeting here in Moscow to discuss proposals made in the statement of President Vladimir Putin on September 24,'' Kazantsev said in televised remarks.
But Zakayev, interviewed by NTV television, said talks had been under way for nearly a month on an agenda and disarming Chechen fighters could not be a pre-condition for the talks.
AGENDA FOR TALKS
Another Resistance leader representative, Mayerbek Vachagayev, told Ekho Moskvy radio that preparations for the talks had dealt ''solely with the format for future talks, nothing more.''
That drew a rebuke from the Kremlin's chief spokesman on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, who told Itar-Tass news agency that Resistance leaders should ``get an understanding of political reality'' that they had no authority in Chechnya.
Russia says it controls Chechen territory and portrays life as returning to normal under a pro-Moscow local administration. But attacks and ambushes kill several servicemen each week.
Putin's efforts to equate the Chechnya drive with the U.S.-led ``anti-terrorist'' campaign in Afghanistan appear to be paying off with Western governments easing up on accusations of human rights abuses and excessive use of force.
In recent weeks, the United States, Germany, Britain and France have said their stand on Chechnya has been altered by the events following last month's attacks on New York and Washington.
PHOTO CAPTION:
FILE--Unidentified Muslims march in Sarajevo in this March 2000 file photo during a protest organized by local Islamic youth organizations to demand the world community put a stop to Russia's offensive in Chechnya. The banner reads "Allah is the only one, and Muhammad is his envoy on earth." As the United States widens its war against Osama bin Laden, signs that a radical fringe is trying to stir up Bosnia, one of the largest Muslim areas in Europe, are being taken seriously. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic)
- Oct 13 1:36 PM ET