|
New Chechen president sez no to peace with Russia
Chechnya's new rebel leader said on Monday his fighters would never ask the Kremlin for peace talks, ending his predecessor's policy of offering to meet at the negotiating table to end the province's decade-long war.Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev took over as leader of the guerrillas when Aslan Maskhadov was killed in March. Analysts said prospects for a peace deal had largely died with the moderate former Soviet army officer. Chechen rebels have been fighting for independence from Russia since 1994. "The leadership of the Chechen resistance is always open to a real political dialogue on the principles laid out by Aslan Maskhadov," Sadulayev said in a statement on rebel Web site www.chechenpress.com. "But all the same, we will never again ask the Kremlin for peace." Maskhadov frequently said he was trying to initiate peace talks with Russia. Although Moscow always rejected his approaches, a video statement circulated in Chechnya after Maskhadov's death showed him saying "this day is already close". Sadulayev said the rebel leader's killing -- in what Moscow described at the time as a targeted "special operation" -- showed Chechens could not trust Russians enough to come down from the hills and enter talks. "Maskhadov even moved to Chechnya's lowlands to activate the initiative of a peace agreement, although it was terribly dangerous for him," said Sadulayev, whose name is sometimes spelt Saidulayev. "On the evening of March 8, the whole world saw how Europe and Russia answered his longing for peace: the Old World with dumb silence, and Moscow with foul murder." Sadulayev said Chechen forces would not target ordinary Russians, but would aim for Russia's weak points. "The Kremlin rulers do not have the political or moral will for peace, they do not want neighbourly relations with the Chechens. Our immediate aim is at the Achilles Heel of the Kremlin residents and their collaborators," he said. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-05-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=119364 |