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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Shamil Issues Warning to Russia |
| 2004-11-01 |
| Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for last month's Beslan school hostage-taking, warned Sunday that he was ready to fight Russia for a decade and insisted civilians remained a fair target. But Basayev also said the rebels would observe "international law" if Russia also made such a commitment. The Chechens have accused the Russians of human rights violations and war crimes. "If (President Vladimir) Putin doesn't want peace, we'll wait until he leaves or if we can we'll send him directly to hell," Basayev said in an interview published on Chechenpress.com, a Chechen Web site. "Five years of war have gone quickly, another five or ten years will go just as fast." Basayev has claimed responsibility for some of the most audacious terror attacks inside Russia, including the Sept. 1-3 hostage-taking in North Ossetia which left more than 330 people dead, half of them children. The Federal Security Service has offered a reward of $10.3 million for information that could help "neutralize" him. The interview dated from Oct. 14 featured Basayev's responses to e-mail questions posed by Toronto's the Globe and Mail newspaper to another Chechen Web site, the site said. There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the interview, although it did feature some hallmarks of Basayev's style. "Our aim isn't to kill people, especially children, but to stop the genocide of the Chechen people and defend freedom and independence," Basayev reportedly wrote. "Therefore, we are forced to resort to extremes, which we are not ourselves happy with." Basayev said that "if Putin would begin to observe international law, then we would automatically begin to observe it." He added that such a move would "even be advantageous for us," but stressed the rebels wouldn't do that "unilaterally." He also insisted that most Chechen rebels fight independently in small groups and organize their own financing, saying that his presence in Chechnya was rarely required. In 2003, Basayev said he was only in Chechnya for two weeks "and the majority of the mujahadeen didn't even notice." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Putin's old pals in the KGB can't find Basayev? The world talks about Osama still being on the run, this guy has been in the southern Caucasus sine the early 1990's & remains there? Maybe they need to send in the Bulgarians. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-11-01 12:35:47 PM |
| #1 In 2003, Basayev said he was only in Chechnya for two weeks "and the majority of the mujahedeen didn't even notice." Which brings to mind the question, where was he, and why was he there instead of Chechnya? |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-11-01 8:43:39 AM |