| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| New Chechen president sez no to peace with Russia |
| 2005-05-17 |
| 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 |
| #3 "President" ? Of what? Who elected this jihadi joker? |
| Posted by: john 2005-05-17 16:52 |
| #2 Maskhadov didn't really matter alive or dead beyond providing a happy smilely face for window dressing on what was and is pig-ugly killing machine with grandiose dreams of a big caucus caliphate. Maskhadov had lost his grip on the leash of his various warlords and field commanders long before the war was renewed. Basayev and others made it clear they were doing a jihaad thing across the caucus and would agree to nothing more than a temporary ceasefire. How could Maskhadov negotiate in good faith without the ability to deliver the goods? They've effectively driven straight down a dead end street at a time when things are not going well militarily for them and the odds of the Russians walking away peacefully are diminishing. Outside jihaadis are not swarming to the cause. There's nothing to do but try to kill and die. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-05-17 13:07 |
| #1 is always open to a real political dialogue on the principles laid out by Aslan Maskhadov," seems the russian's made a martyr out of him. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-05-17 07:24 |