Kavkaz-Center: Maskhadov orders the resistance to suspend attacks(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.
(T/E) RELATED ARTICLES:
· Kavkaz-Center's report of Feb 3, 2005 (updated version of the original report of Feb 2)
· Aslan Maskhadov's brothers and sister kidnapped (PW, December 7, 2004)
· The Big Round-Up (PW / Sanobar Shermatova, March 12, 2004)
· Aslan Maskhadov: Five Steps into History (PW / Ilya Maksakov, September 29, 2003)
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