CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Aslan Maskhadov: “30 minutes are enough to stop the war in Chechnya”

The following text appeared on the website of Chechen news agency Chechenpress. We republished it in the original form, i.e. without editorial changes. Prague Watchdog.

(Two interviews of the President of CRI Aslan Maskhadov to the “Radio Liberty”)

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Taking the opportunity, I’ll try to answer the questions of the correspondents of “Radio Liberty”.

I. “Putin finishes Russia off”

Answering this question, I would like to tell the following, especially with regard to the tragedy in Beslan. Yes, that’s really a tragedy, that’s blasphemy. The similar methods have nothing in common with the struggle of the Chechen people and Chechen Mujahideen, because it cannot be justified.

All the Mujahideen fighting against the federal forces with arms in hands – all of us are indignant at this fact. We express our sincere condolences to the parents and relatives of the killed children, and apologize to the Ossetian people, irrespective of who will claim responsibility for this tragedy, regardless of the fact whether the Chechen were there or not.

In our opinion, the main reason for similar terrorist acts of hostage-taking is the ongoing war in Chechnya lasting 13 years. Not disclaiming the responsibility from the hostage-takers who captured the children in the Beslan school, and not trying to justify myself, I would like tell the truth – the truth, which, even today people are afraid to say openly.

What are the reasons for similar tragedies? I will try to enumerate them.

The first, and, in my opinion, principal reason is the barbarous and man-hating policy pursued by Russia in the Caucasus toward all the Caucasian peoples.

The second reason is the change of the authorities in Russia and appearance of a new president of the Russian Federation in the Kremlin, who came to power, stained with the blood of the Chechens and his own people.

The third reason is the on-going war in Chechnya. The outrageous war that has no analogue in the world aimed at the genocide of the Chechen nation. The Chechen people, all Chechen children have been held as hostages for the past five years, and are subjected to the state terror on the part of Russia.

The fourth reason is Putin’s morbid ambitiousness that has carried him to irresponsibility. Suffice is to see Putin’s face when he is asked a question about Chechnya and the Chechens, and one can convict of the truth of my words. His rating playing has driven him to such a state that it lessened the value of blood of not only of the Chechens but also of the little kids in North Ossetia.

We have suggested many times and we are suggesting repeatedly to the president of the Russian Federation to stop this bloody war – and it will be the end of all these sufferings and murders of people and terrorist acts. Because of his morbid imagination, Putin raves about “international terrorism” driven to intervention of all the states against Russia to divide it, to break it down, to wreck it. We are not blind and it is evident that Russia has collapsed long ago and Putin is finishing it off.

I am declaring with full responsibility that there is no intervention, nothing of the kind of international terrorism but a fabricated image of an enemy: fundamentalism, Islamic extremism… Probably, it is advantageous to the Kremlin.

A certain international expert, in my opinion, from Germany, once told me that, ostensibly, Chechen Islamists want to unite Dagestan, Chechnya, North Ossetia, and Ingushetia and found a caliphate. It is not true. It is a falsehood. I am repeating: there is no problem to stop this war. I mean to stop terrorism, to stop murdering, to stop the shaheeds – suicide bombers and that part of Chechen Resistance having radical views.

Johar Dudayev said before the first Russian-Chechen war: Let me speak with Eltsin for 30 minutes and there will be no war, we will come to the agreement. He would have persuaded Eltsin. The war broke out, and the first President of Chechnya Johar Dudayev was killed. And after the first war, 30 minutes were enough for me to persuade the President of Russian Federation Eltsin to sign the historical document – Treaty on Peace and Principles of Mutual Relations Between Russia and Chechnya.

During the second meeting with Eltsin in August of 1997, I had the time enough to persuade the President of Russian Federation to sign the document on mutual recognition of our states, i.e. a full-scale treaty. But this time we are not given such an opportunity.

At the beginning of this war began, in Nazran, in the office of the former president of Ingushetia Ruslan Aushev, we suggested to the then Premier of Russia Putin to meet. And I am fully confident 30 minutes would have been enough to persuade this man not to begin a new war, I would have convicted him in vainness of this war. I could have convinced Putin that those men who went to Dagestan were not delighted with that – there is no one who could justify them, not even those who are fighting against Russia. But Putin needed war, and he has got it.

Now we are repeating: 30 minutes will be enough for two presidents to meet and stop this bloodshed, to put the end to this terrible war, to express mutual agreement, i.e. to stop terrorism, blood and sufferings of the people. But it is useless to speak about it now. My arguments, my ambitions, so to say, consist in one thing: a firm guarantees of security of the Chechen people – nothing more. As for the rest, I am ready to yield in favor of Russia. I am repeating once more: there is no terrorism, there is no influence from the outside, and there is no intervention. It is a lie, a falsehood.

In Chechen Resistance Movement there are people having radical views. They adhere to the position that it is useless to fight with Russia by using usual civilized methods. Because Russian army is the only army and Russia is the only state that does not count the bodies of its soldiers and officers daily killed on the territory of Chechnya. And they, those radicals in Chechen Resistance Movement think that by blasts in subways, plane crashes, hostage-taking and other similar actions they can force Putin to end this war, this massacre, this bloodshed, this genocide of the Chechen people.

The main argument of the people who take hostages in the theatres and schools consists in the following: they thought Putin and special services would not shoot at the children, or would not use poison gases “Zarin” and “Zaman” to exterminate their fellow citizens. However, they made a mistake. These people are deluded because they do not know true worth of their enemy and the country they are fighting with. And here, in Beslan, I would like repeat once more: I do not want to justify them, but they, most likely, did not suppose the Kremlin would give an order to shoot at the children and take the building by storm. I am confident the terrorists have not shot down the children.

One of the kids from that school confessed that they had heard two blasts from the outside, a wall collapsed, then the roof, and the “terrorists” did not shoot at them, they changed their clothes and moved away. In my opinion, the only fault of these “terrorists” is that they, at their own risk, want to make the Russian authorities compromise. I am sure it won’t work. I am repeating: they are unaware of the brutal character of their enemy and leader of Russia.

I know President of North Ossetia Dzasokhov. He is a respected and honest man, a politician viewing things in a sensible light. He would have never given an order to storm the school. In no circumstances. And I am confident it was not he who gave such an order; I am sure he did not agree with them who began the storm.

On 3 September, early in the morning on the day of the storm, my envoy in Great Britain Zakayev had a telephone conversation with Dzasokhov. We did not doubt that the negotiations would begin and we would be the mediators. We know Russia and Russian leadership very well, we are well aware of the methods of special services of Russia, and, at our own risk, we were ready to act as go-betweens and save the children. We would try all our might to do it, even in prejudice of the “terrorists’ claims.

When Anna Politkovskaya was poisoned on the plane, and Andrei Babitsky was detained in Moscow, it was clear that they would use force and storm the school in Beslan. And now, President of North Ossetia Dzasokhov should make his presence felt. He must say the truth and disclose the facts to his people, to the relatives of the dead: he ought to tell them who began the storm and who is guilty of the murder of hundreds of children. I believe he has the courage to display sense and do it.

At the same time, I call upon my brothers Ossetians not to yield to provocations, not to trust in lies and deceit of the Russian politicians and special services. We are brothers; we need not share anything. It is badgering in South Ossetia – badgering of the Ossetins and Georgians. And in the Northern Caucasus, especially after the tragedy in Beslan – badgering of the Ossetins, Ingush and Chechens. I believe the peoples of Ossetia, Georgia, Ingushetia and Chechnya will not deceive themselves and regard Russia as our main enemy.

In this connection I would like to say the following: we are indignant at the recklessness and hypocrisy of certain Western leaders, especially the leadership of the UNO, playing footsie with the authorities of Russia for almost five years.

In June the UN Commission for Human Rights considered the issue on violation of human rights in Chechnya. Almost all the members voted against the introduced draft, i.e. decided the question in favor of Russia.

Putin, who at any moment can be exposed for his crimes in Chechnya, in my opinion, suits the leaders of the Western countries. However, these leaders today prefer to overlook his deeds. They are not blind and observed how this man came to power.

They, those Western leaders know who gave the orders to blow up the apartment houses in Buinaksk, Volgodonsk and Moscow. They know that war crimes in Chechnya are committed by the personal command of the president of Russian Federation, including the murders of outstanding Russian politicians and human rights activists, such as Yushenkov, Shekochikhin, Borovik, Lebed, as well as poisoning of Politkovskaya. They know that by instructions of Putin the hostages were gassed in the theatre “Nord-Ost”, and the recent storm of the school in Beslan was carried out by his personal command.

Therefore, those misters who hug today Putin: Schroeder, Chirak and others – these democrats should know that they also answer for the tragedy in Beslan. They remain indifferent to the sufferings of the Chechen and Ossetian children. They have a concern in energy resources only. Nothing more.

Thank you for attention.

II. “We are fighting by civilized methods”

Question: According to the Russian mass media and special services, the leaders of Chechen Resistance Movement, including President Aslan Maskhadov, initiated the hostage-taking operation in Beslan. What can you say regarding the abovementioned statement?

Answer: We are not surprised at this kind of allegations. You remember “Nord-Ost”. Putin and his chief of special services Patrushev would willingly shot down a thousand more children in Chechnya and North Ossetia to have the right to provoke Maskhadov to the adequate actions. We are well aware of how they force the people to speak in the torture chambers of “Lefortovo” and “Chernokozovo” and what methods they are using.

For example, a week ago Russian special services did such a show. They captured all the relatives of Maskhadov, including the children and women, and forced them to speak on TV: they, ostensibly, asked Maskhadov to “release: the children held as hostages in Beslan. All this is done for one purpose – they want to convince the ordinary people that Maskhadov is the initiator of the terrorist act.

But it is not true. I am sure no one believes these lies. It is too naive, and the main thing is that it demonstrates incompetence and helplessness of Russian special services. The Russian leaders want me to conduct this kind of terrorist acts; however, they are out of luck. I cannot do it, and my mentality does not allow me even adequately to turn to such methods.

We do not need Putin’s concessions. We do not want to force Putin to stop the war at any price. We are strong enough to force Russia to end this war and to take away the chastisers of the Chechen people and Chechen children from the territory of Chechnya. We keep to the following methods of struggle.

As regards the foreign policy, we want to show the international community, all international institutions and the entire world what is happening in Chechnya today; we want to uncover the falsehood of Russian propaganda, brutality and atrocities of the federal forces and special services of the Russian Federation on the territory of Chechnya, to show the purport of our 400-year-old struggle for freedom and independence and prove that we are not terrorists and extremists, and we have nothing in common with the international terrorism.

As to the internal policy, we are gaining our end not to let Putin and his special services provoke a civil war here, in Chechnya. The military policy of the Chechen Resistance forces is the fight against the federal forces by the organized, i.e. legal, civilized methods, not passing on to the methods provoked by the enemy.

20.09.04.

Source: Chechenpress.

(T)