Press Release: There are no Chechen fighters in Afghan territoryCHECHEN REPUBLIC OF ICHKERIA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Press-release # 10/787
21 November 2001
Press Contact:
Mr. R. Khalilov Tel/fax: + 32 2 742 21 90
Email: rk-mfa@chechengovernment.com
On 18 November CNN's correspondent Satinder Bindra reported that 'about 60 Chechens fighting alongside the Taliban drowned themselves in the Amu-[Darya] River rather than give up'. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria states that there are no Chechen fighters in Afghan territory. We regret that CNN and other leading news agencies are blindly repeating Russian propaganda, which aims to justify the numerous war crimes that Russian troops have systematically been committing against the Chechen nation.
We condemn these baseless reports and call for objective journalism. We urge CNN and all other media organizations to differentiate between fact and propaganda. We remind them that Chechnya is a nation fighting for its legitimate rights and freedoms against a barbaric invader. We stress that the legitimate Chechen struggle has nothing to do with the repressive Taliban regime.
Signed:
Ilyas Akhmadov
Foreign Minister
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