Two Red Cross workers kidnapped in ChechnyaRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today harshly condemned yesterday's kidnapping of two of its employees. The press release distributed to journalists today states that the organization is seriously concerned about the fate of two of its employees and calls on those responsible for the kidnapping to release them immediately. According to the document, the ICRC is currently reassessing the situation in view of the incident.
The kidnapping occurred during the day on Wednesday in the vicinity of Grozny on the road connecting the settlements of Pobedinskoye and Goragorskiy. The kidnap victims Alexandr Panov and Musa Satushiyev together with their colleagues were traveling in a convoy of vehicles returning to Ingushetia after delivering humanitarian aid to the capital of Chechnya. The kidnappers let two other employees go.
Chechen refugees are seriously alarmed by the incident, worrying that the kidnapping will have an effect on the aid provided by the ICRC. Talking to the Prague Watchdog correspondent many of them were certain the kidnapping occurred in order to force the organization to suspend its activities both in Chechnya and Ingushetia. It is especially thanks to the aid coming from international organizations such as the ICRC that the majority of Chechen refugees manage to survive. (D/T) |
