Kadyrov accuses Maskhadov of threatening Lord JuddTimur Aliyev, North Caucasus, February 13 – The head of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, accused Aslan Maskhadov of threatening Lord Judd. According to Kadyrov, those threats were contained in an appeal to the people of the Chechen Republic, signed by Maskhadov, which Kadyrov presented to Alvaro Gil-Robles, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in Grozny on February 13.
This document accuses Lord Judd of hypocrisy and effort to gain popularity. According to the statement, ”the misery and grief of the Chechen nation doesn’t interest him at all. Lord Judd betrayed the Chechen nation by supporting an illegal referendum”.
”I publicly warn Lord Judd that another visit by him to our country would be, for this traitor, the final one,” Maskhadov allegedly declared.
According to the statement, Maskhadov also threatened all Chechens with death penalties imposed by the Sharia Court if they cooperated with the Moscow-backed administration.
Moreover, Maskhadov, in his statement, encourages his followers that all Arabic organizations will support them: "Our brethren of Al-Qaeda and Al-Kharamein are always ready to help us in the Holy Jihad against non-believers”.
According to human rights defenders, the authenticity of this document is dubious. ”To threaten Lord Judd, who is in effect their sole supporter, would be, at the very least, short-sighted,” says Ruslan Badalov, Chairman of the Chechen National Salvation Committee. ”And even a notorious extremist, all the more so Maskhadov, would hardly admit his association with well known terrorist organizations who are on America’s blacklist, while the war on terrorism rages on a world-wide scale.”
Alvaro Gil-Robles thinks that priority should be given to the peaceful solution of the conflict. ”This is the only civilized way of solving the current problems,” he remarked.
The Commissioner also considers the disappearances of people in Chechnya to be a major problem. He presented the Chechen Prosecutor, Vladimir Kravchenko, with lists of people who disappeared in Chechnya---lists that were handed to him by the human rights organizations in Moscow. ”I have many photos and written testimonies about disappearances of Chechen citizens,” noted the Commissioner. Kravchenko assured him that he is engaged in this matter.
Alvaro Gil-Robles was also interested in the referendum and refugee issues. ”Another aim of my visit is to examine how well the Russian authorities are fulfilling their commitment to ensure that all conditions necessary for the inhabitants living in tent camps have been met.”
(H/E,T) |
