Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
I saw this and also saw, someplace a headline, that Israel leaders had not been in the plan.
It is beginning to look as tho, Israel, has the equal of our far left, who go and make deals, even when told to not interfere by the President.
Look how many times Kerry has gone to the enemy and tried to make deals.
[I had this come in this morning, is it what we are talking about? granny]
Full Text of Leaked Agreement With Syria
11:22 Jan 16, '07 / 26 Tevet 5767
(IsraelNN.com) The following is the text of a draft non-binding
agreement with Syria published by Haaretz Tuesday:
Nonpaper - Draft 4
August 29, 2004
Preamble
The objective of this effort is to establish normal, peaceful relations
between the governments and peoples of Israel and Syria, and to sign a
treaty of peace attesting to this achievement. The treaty will resolve
the four "pillars" at the core of negotiations: security, water,
normalization, and borders. There is be no agreement on any single one of
these issues unless and until all of these issues are resolved.
I. Sovereignty
1. Syrian sovereignty, based upon the June 4, 1967 line in the Golan Heights, is acknowledged by Israel. The mutually agreed upon border will
be determined by both parties (and guaranteed by the U.S. and the UN)
II. Framework Agreement, Implementation, and the End to the State of
Belligerency
A "Framework Agreement" will address the issues of security (including
early warning), water, normalization, and borders. Negotiations to
reach such an agreement should proceed as expeditiously.
1. The state of belligerency between the parties will cease upon
signature of a framework agreement between the parties, and will include the
cessation of hostile actions by each party against the other.
2. Application of Syrian sovereignty in the Golan Heights, the
establishment of normal, bilateral diplomatic relations, and the implementation
of relevant provisions related to water and security will commence as
soon as possible after the conclusion of a Framework Agreement but no
later than the signing of a treaty of peace.
3. Implementation of the Israeli withdrawal to the mutually agreed
border will occur during a period (the exact time frame to be mutually
agreed) from signature of the Framework Agreement.
III. Peace Treaty
1. Satisfactory implementation of provisions and obligations
established in the Framework Agreement will result in the signing of a peace
treaty between the parties.
IV. Security
1. Demilitarized zones will be established in the areas of the Golan Heights that Israeli forces will vacate.
2. No military forces, armaments, weapons systems, or military
infrastructure will be introduced into the demilitarized zones. Only a limited
civil police presence will be deployed in the areas.
3. Both parties agree not to fly over demilitarized zones without a
special arrangement.
4. The establishment of an early warning system includes a ground
station on Mt. Hermon/Jabal as-Sheikh operated by the United States.
5. A monitoring and inspection and verification mechanism will be
established to monitor and supervise the security agreements.
6. Direct liaison between the parties will be established in order to:
Create a direct, real time communication capability on security issues
in order to minimize friction along the international border; Help to
prevent errors and misunderstandings between the parties.
7. Zones of reduced military forces will be established in Israel west
of the international border with Syria and in Syria east of the Golan Heights. The respective depth of these zones (as measured in kilometers)
between Israel and Syria will be according to a ratio of 1:4.
8. The Parties will cooperate in fighting local and international
terrorism of all kinds.
9. The Parties will work together for a stable and safe Middle East,
including the solution of regional problems related to the Palestinians,
Lebanese, and Iran.
V. Water
1. Israel will control the use and disposition of the water in the
Upper Jordan River and Lake Tiberias.
2. Syria will not interrupt or obstruct natural flow of water in either
quality or quantity in the Upper Jordan River, its tributaries, and
Lake Tiberias.
3. Syrian use of the waters of the upper Jordan River, its tributaries,
and Lake Tiberias for residential and fishing purposes is recognized
and guaranteed.
VI. Park
1. In order to safeguard the water resources of the Jordan River basin,
Syrian territory east of the mutually agreed border will be designated
as a Park open to all and administered by Syria. The Park is to be
established in the Golan Heights upon completion of the Israeli withdrawal
and application of Syrian sovereignty in accordance with the treaty of
peace. The park will extend from the agreed upon border eastward to a
line to be determined by mutual agreement.
2. Park characteristics:
* Park is open for tourism.
* Park will be policed by Syrian park service personnel.
* The park will be free of permanent residents except for conservation
and law enforcement personnel.
* No visa will be required for entry into park [from Israeli
territory].
* Syrians will issue on-site official entry permit for a nominal fee.
* Visitors wishing to enter other Syrian territory east of the Park
must have a proper visa and transit Syrian controls on park's eastern
perimeter.
* Entry to park is valid for one day during daylight hours.
Click here for our free Daily News Report from Israel
In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
Teenagers hide as Russian army comes knocking
AFP
By Eleonore Dermy
MOSCOW, Jan 14 2007 - When the bell of the Zuyev's small Moscow
apartment rang one evening in December, 19-year-old Andrei was right to
fear the worst.
"It was 10 in the evening. A man in civilian clothes appeared at the
door and declared that he had come for Andrei to bring him to the army
enlistment office," said Valentina Zuyeva, Andrei's mother, who was
still in shock several days after the visit descended into violence.
A small, reserved woman, Valentina repeatedly told the recruitment
officer that her son was exempt for medical reasons, but to no avail.
She said the soldier demanded a bribe.
When the Zuyevs refused, the officer called in reinforcements: a
soldier
in uniform and two police officers "half drunk" and armed, Valentina
said.
The latter knocked down Nikolai, Andrei's father, who lost
consciousness. They then seized Valentina and Konstantin, Andrei's
14-year-old brother. Catching him by the neck they tried to strangle
the
boy, she said.
Andrei, who had remained in the background, then gave in and agreed to
follow the four men to the recruitment office.
There, the soldiers pulled out his file and realized that his name was
not actually on the list and that he had thus been seized illegally.
The Russian army, which boasts just over a million soldiers, suffers
from an atrocious reputation, damaged further by recent incidents of
violent hazing.
In one, Andrei Sychev, 19, had to have his legs and genitals amputated
after being beaten at the end of 2005 by other soldiers in his barracks
in the Ural mountains.
In mid-December the defense ministry said 22 soldiers had died from
hazings and 193 had committed suicide since the beginning of the year.
The military acknowledges there is a problem, but denies there is any
particular crisis.
"Hazing starts right from kindergarten where some teachers abuse the
children," Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said in the aftermath of the
Sychev case.
But with growing numbers of young Russians doing all they can to avoid
the two annual draft drives, the authorities are set this year to
introduce a conscription period cut from two years to one and a half,
then from 2008 just one.
Yet the need to fill the ranks and strict limitations on alternative
service mean that the authorities go to great lengths to chase down
those trying to avoid the widely hated service.
Days before the end of last year's autumn draft, General Vassily
Smirnov, head of conscription for the defense ministry, said that
nearly
10 percent of those required to present themselves had failed to turn
up.
Maria Fedulova, of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, a grass-roots
group defending the rights of conscripts, said the Zuyev incident was
"not an isolated case."
"The enlistment officers make their sweeps regularly and do not look at
the documents that the families submit to them to prove they are not
liable to be drafted," she said.
Raids are not limited to apartments: it is not unusual to see soldiers
stopping young men of enlistment age in the street to bring them to the
enlistment centres.
At the end of September, just before the launch of the autumn draft,
several non-governmental organisations, including the Committee of
Soldiers' Mothers, denounced systematic violations of the rights of
conscripts.
In a report based on the year's spring draft, the committee complained
of misinformation given to conscripts and their parents, pressure
exerted on them and violation of proper procedures.
"If the conscript suffers from a serious illnesses, if he has a family,
the enlistment office does not care," said Fedulova.
"One day, one of the soldiers beat a woman who came to explain that her
son was to be exempted. They broke her arm," she said.
Military analyst Alexander Golts said that hazing has always been an
important factor of army life here, but that the comparative
lawlessness
in post-Soviet Russia has made things worse.
"Things have changed somewhat since the Soviet period," he said.
"Hazing
existed in the Soviet time, but was less harsh. Since, society has
become much more cruel. If hazing then aimed to humiliate soldiers, now
it can go as far as murder."
In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
Human Rights Watch World Report 2007 (events of 2006)
Russia
The murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaia profoundly shocked the
human rights movement in Russia and internationally and symbolized
the further deterioration of the human rights situation in Russia.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has tightened its grip on human rights
organizations and other independent institutions. Grave human rights
abuses persist in Chechnya, including torture, abductions, and
forced disappearances, and the conflict threatens to spill over into
other regions of the northern Caucasus.
International scrutiny of Russia's human rights record was grossly
inadequate at a time when Russia assumed leadership of two
international bodies in 2006, resulting in a lost opportunity to
press Russia to improve its record. Russia took over chairmanship of
the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in May and held
the presidency of the Group of Eight, hosting the organization's
summit in St Petersburg in July.
The Northern Caucasus
Despite claims of stability and reconstruction in Chechnya, the
ongoing armed conflict continues to claim civilian lives. Russia's
federal forces play less of a direct role in Chechnya; pro-Kremlin
Chechen forces under the command of Chechnya's prime minister,
Ramzan Kadyrov, known as the "kadyrovtsy" now dominate law
enforcement and security operations and commit grave human rights
abuses.
Although local human rights groups reported a slight decline in the
number of abductions leading to forced disappearances in 2006, these
disappearances remain a key feature of the conflict, with as many as
5,000 people "disappeared" since 1999 and at least 54 so far in
2006. Reports of torture, especially in unofficial detention centers
run by the "Kadyrovtsy" increased in 2006.
The Russian government failed to pursue any accountability process
for human rights abuses committed during the course of the conflict
in Chechnya. Unable to secure justice domestically, hundreds of
victims of abuse have filed applications with the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR). The court issued landmark rulings on Chechnya,
finding the Russian government guilty of violating the right to life
and the prohibition of torture with respect to civilians who had
died or been forcibly disappeared at the hands of Russia's federal
troops. Hundreds of similar claims are pending before the court.
Civil Society
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), activists, and independent
journalists working on human rights issues, particularly the war in
Chechnya, faced increasing administrative and judicial harassment.
In some cases, these individuals also endured persecution, threats,
and physical attacks.
In October 2006 an unidentified gunman murdered Novaya Gazeta
journalist Anna Politkovskaia. Known for her independent reporting,
particularly about abuses committed in the war in Chechnya,
Politkovskaia was a fierce critic of the Kremlin and the pro-Russian
Chechen government. There seemed little doubt she was killed because
of her work. Also, there was a rise in the number of death threats
against prominent human rights defenders.
In November 2005 authorities in Dagestan held Osman Boliev—a human
rights defender who investigated kidnapping and other abuses by
police—for three months on charges of illegal weapons possession. He
was tortured in custody and later acquitted and released. In July
2006 police charged him with aiding the terrorists who seized
hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater in 2002. Fearing for his
safety, Boliev fled Russia.
In January President Vladimir V. Putin signed into law new
regulations that impose burdensome reporting requirements on all
NGOs and grant registration officials unprecedented authority to
interfere with or restrict the work of NGOs. Under the law,
officials may, without a court order, demand any document at any
time from an NGO and order an intrusive inspection of an NGO's
office. The law requires foreign NGOs to submit annual and quarterly
work plans and permits government officials to ban planned projects
or activities that conflict with Russia's national interests. All
foreign NGOs had to re-register by mid-October; hundreds had to
suspend their operations for weeks while their applications were
pending.
In February a criminal court in Nizhni Novgorod handed Stanislav
Dmitrievsky, the executive director of the Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society, a two-year suspended sentence on charges
of "inciting racial hatred" for articles he had published in the
organization's newspaper. The articles featured statements from
leading Chechen separatists that in reality amounted to protected
speech. A civil court liquidated the organization, finding that it
had failed to distance itself from Dmitrievsky; as of this writing
the case was on appeal with the Supreme Court.
Several Russian human rights organizations were threatened with—but
avoided— closure for problems with their charter or failing to
report their activities. But the International Defense Assistance
Center, a Russian group that represents people from Russia at the
ECHR received a bill for back taxes and penalties on tax exempt
grants for US$167,000. Under the tax code, money for educational,
analytical, and research purposes is not taxable and the tax bill
appears to be an attempt to shut down the NGO, which has 250 cases
pending before the ECHR.
Xenophobia and Intolerance
Human rights groups reported more than a hundred racist and
xenophobic attacks—an increase over last year—including at least 36
murders and 286 people beaten or wounded in the first nine months of
the year. Notably, in September violent mobs in Kondopoga, in
northern Russia, attacked residents from the Caucasus, causing
hundreds to flee the city fearing for their lives. Some of the more
serious attacks have been prosecuted, but police routinely
characterize racist crimes as hooliganism, a misdemeanor charge,
rather than use sentencing enhancement for hate-motivated crimes
available in Russian law.
After months of rising tensions between the Russian and Georgian
governments, in October 2006 Georgian authorities in Tbilisi briefly
detained four Russian military officers on accusations of espionage.
In retaliation, the Russian government deported hundreds of
Georgians, forced Georgian-owned businesses to close, and asked
teachers for lists of school children with Georgian last names so
their parents could be investigated for visa or tax violations.
After a court upheld Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzkhov's ban on a gay and
lesbian pride march, on May 27, 2006, several dozen gay activists
and supporters attempted to hold two protest rallies in support of
freedoms of assembly and expression. Hundreds of anti-gay
protesters, including skinheads, nationalists, and Orthodox
followers, attacked the participants, beating and kicking many, and
chanted threats. The mayor's office had earlier made homophobic
statements and circulated directives to restrict gay and lesbian
rights.
Entrenched Problems
A gruesome case of hazing in the army, which resulted in a conscript
having to have his legs and genitals amputated, once again pushed
violent hazing in Russia's military into the spotlight. The Ministry
of Defense took steps to address this crime, but maintained that
violent hazing is not widespread in Russia's military and blamed
television and "the decline of traditional values" for hazing rather
than taking responsibility for the problem. Violent hazing results
in the death of dozens of young soldiers every year, and serious
injuries to thousands more. Many conscripts commit or attempt
suicide and thousands defect from their units to escape harm.
Russia continued to increase attention and resources to combat
HIV/AIDS. It proposed an ambitious plan to develop treatments and
vaccines and raise awareness about the disease and made infectious
diseases one of the key agenda items at the summit of G8 leaders in
July. However, police abuse, harassment, and widespread
discrimination against injection drug users and other groups at high
risk for HIV/AIDS continued to interfere with HIV prevention, care,
and treatment efforts. Access to treatment remained a major problem,
with only a fraction of people living with the disease receiving
anti-retroviral drugs.
Russia violated its obligations under the Convention against Torture
by forcibly returning Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, where they face a risk
of torture. In March 2006 the government announced it had returned
19 Uzbeks. In October it returned Rustam Muminov, an asylum seeker
wanted on politically-motivated charges in Uzbekistan, in violation
of Russian law and after the ECHR imposed an injunction to stop the
deportation.
http://www.cafebabel.com/en/article.asp?T=T&Id=9571
Chechens in Paris: bureaucratic odyssey
Far from the conflict-torn Caucasus, we meet the Chechnya Committee in Paris, who won’t allow a forgotten war to be erased from the European memory
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who goes down in history as a prominent voice against the war in Chechnya (Photo: Nofrills/ Flickr)
A cold December evening in Paris. The Chechnya Committee is bursting with activity in their headquarters, not far from the Place de la Nation. In the association's small office, a poster is stuck on a wall, in front of a line of old seats filling up the space in the waiting room. It reads 'Terror there, silence here'. 'Terror' is the continuing violence, including that raging between civilians, caused by Russian aggression in the Caucasus' rebel republic. 'Silence' signifies the almost non-existent coverage of this war by the European press. You can only gain access to this region with special permits or through 'Lastrjembski tour' visits, organised by the communication department of the pro-Russian Chechen government.
Displaced even in Poland
The Chechnya Committee has been active in France since 1994. Their mission is to 'raise awareness amongst the authorities and the public about the Chechen war, especially concerning the cruel assymetry between the power of the Russian army and the indefense of the civil population,' according to Committee member Martin Rosselot.
The association – the majority of whose members are French, as the Chechens fear retaliation for those families who are still in the zone - also support Chechens living in France. Those receiving asylum have to go through an extenuating bureaucracy marathon in the land of human rights, and certainly need the help. Common legislation resends the asylum-seeker to the first European country in which they set foot when they fled Chechnya. At the very least, this includes Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.
Here matters are more prickly. For Rosselot, ‘the Chechens don’t want to stay in Poland because they worry it is too close to Russia. They are frightened for their safety, of ending up in the hands of Russian spies. Another disadvantage in Poland is the bleak hope of gaining refugee status – only 8% of applicants are successful, in comparison to 20% in France’. And whilst they wait to see whether they will be resent to the East or whether they can find official refuge in France, the Chechens are not entitled to any aid. Nor can they get any regular work.
Politkovskaya’s courage
Those who do manage to gain a status have to begin from zero without the language capabilities, a roof or a job. Many Chechens here in Place de la Nation think that a journey back home is impossible, at least not now.
How do they see the situation in Chechnya? The Committee has notes more and more pessimism amongst Chechens. Independence from Moscow remains a goal, but negotiation is impossible with Putin in power and a weaker opposition to the Russians, as the political murder of Chechen war reporter Anna Politkovskaya grimly showed.
Rosselot is no less critical of Europe, who he blames for a ‘hypocritical attitude in recognising Chechens as asylum-seekers and without a doubt, for their meek efforts in finding a political solution to the conflict, such as vaguely pressurising Russia diplomatically. The only exception, after the 2002 bloody siege of Grozny, capital of the Chechen Republic, was when the European Council suspended some provisions in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The final word goes to the figures, and the estimated 50, 000 – 100, 000 victims who have lost their lives since 1991.
Giulia Lasagni - Paris - 14.1.2007 | Translation : Nabeelah Shabbir
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Axisglobe: Billionaire ex-KGB officer reportedly denies he told someone tr
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/51256
--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
08.01.2007
Eurasian Secret Services Daily Review
AIA
Billionaire ex-KGB officer reportedly denies he told someone tried to
poison him like Litvinenko
Member of the Russian State Duma, Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB
operative and a banking billionaire, said in an interview to British
media that says he believed his food might have been poisoned in a
Moscow restaurant about eight months ago. His home was checked for
radiation but no trace was found and he recovered, news agency Regnum
reports.
According to latest issue of The Sunday Times, Lebedev claimed that
there had been an attempt on his life analogical as against Litvinenko.
The member of the Russian parliament had told in an interview for the
Tatler magazine that doctors failed to find what caused the poisoning
when he felt ill. He was delivered to hospital and had managed to
survive although he lost 6 kg of his weight.
Late yesterday Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, referring to
Lebedev, that he reportedly had denied he had never spoken on an
attempt
on his life, similar to Litvinenko case. Talking by phone from
Amsterdam
to the news agency, Lebedev said he told the magazine that he himself
had had a strange story, and he was losing weight all the time. He
claimed he had not even mentioned Litvinenko's name in this connection.
According to RIA Novosti, Lebedev said the British paper had used the
interview, given in October, long time before Litvinenko's death and
was
devoted to questions of other character. Lebedev said the interview
would be published by the Tatler magazine only next Thursday.
As RSN informs, Lebedev was astonished at how The Sunday Times
presented
abstracts from his interview to Tatler magazine. "I was sneering at
various superstitions and witchcraft concerning the fact that some
businessmen apply such methods in dealing with their competitors. In
this connection, we spoke that there is a method like poisoning
rivals,"
he explained. According to Lebedev, he never said that he could have
been poisoned by a radioactive substance, in the way like ex-KGB
officer
Alexander Litvinenko was.
Lebedev in the past was a KGB Lieutenant-Colonel, retired in 1991; he
worked for the KGB in London in the 1980s, earning about £700. After
he
left government service, he worked as a banking consultant and later
bought his own small bank, which thrived on his shrewd knowledge of the
bonds and derivatives markets.
Up to date, he takes the 23rd position in the Forbes ratings of
Russia's
richest people. Lebedev bought a stake in the investigative newspaper
Novaya Gazeta, for which slain reporter Anna Politkovskaya worked.
Despite the risk of further attempts in his life, Lebedev is bullish
about the need to confront the "layer of mafia corruption" in Russian
government. He does not oppose President Vladimir Putin, but wants
judicial reforms to help prosecute corrupt officials and businessmen.
Lebedev owns 31% of Aeroflot, the Russian airline. According to Forbes
magazine, he is the 194th richest person in the world with a net worth
of about $3.5 billion. He is a close friend of Mikhail Gorbachev, the
former Soviet leader, and a member of the Russian parliament.
http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1186
Sun: Radiation 'poisoned diplomat'
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/51258
--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
The Sun
Radiation 'poisoned diplomat'
By ALEX PEAKE
January 08, 2007
A BRITISH-based Russian diplomat who died two days before Alexander
Litvinenko was poisoned was ALSO nuked with radiation, it has been
claimed.
Igor Ponomarev, 41, collapsed at home after a night at the opera.
His death came hours before he was due to meet former KGB agent
Litvinenko's Italian contact Mario Scaramella.
Russian authorities said Ponomarev had a heart attack at his London
home. But a friend revealed he had been "gasping for water" — a
symptom
of radiation poisoning.
And he told how Ponomarev — ambassador to the International Maritime
Organisation — drank three litres of water during and after the
opera.
The pal said: "Igor's wife was going to call an ambulance. But when she
entered the room he was dead. He had fallen from the sofa and hit his
face." Experts believe the thirst was consistent with poisoning by
polonium-210, the radioactive substance that killed Litvinenko.
Ponomarev died on October 30, just before Litvinenko, 43, visited a
diner and was poisoned. Due to diplomatic status, Ponomarev had no UK
post-mortem or inquest. His body was flown to Russia.
The pal said Ponomarev's family were shocked as he had no heart
problems. And they were puzzled by his link to "intelligence
consultant"
Scaramella, who met Litvinenko the day he was poisoned.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007010126,00.html
BBC: Spy police 'seek new Russia trip'
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BBC
Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 11:06 GMT
Spy police 'seek new Russia trip'
[photo]
Alexander Litvinenko was a former Russian security officer
British detectives investigating the poisoning of ex-spy Alexander
Litvinenko have asked to return to Moscow, according to reports.
Russia's top prosecutor was quoted as saying Scotland Yard wants to
carry out further inquiries in the city.
Mr Litvinenko died on November 23 in a London hospital. His body
contained radioactive polonium-210.
Last month, nine UK police officers visited Russia to carry out
interviews.
'Investigative request'
According to the Itar-Tass news agency, Prosecutor General Yuri
Chaika said: "Literally yesterday, a new international investigative
request from Great Britain arrived containing a request seeking
permission for a group of British investigators probing the
Litvinenko case to come to Moscow.
"I do not rule out that after the trip by our representatives to
London, we will again receive our colleagues here."
Mr Litvinenko, a former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer, met
three other former Russian secret agents just before he fell ill in
London - Dmitry Kovtun, Andrei Lugovoi and Vyacheslav Sokolenko.
They denied any involvement in his poisoning.
His friends have accused the Kremlin of ordering his assassination
in response to his criticism of President Vladimir Putin. The
Russian government has rejected the claims.
'Strict conditions'
Mr Chaika confirmed that Russian investigators wanted to speak to
two Russian exiles in London: Businessman Boris Berezovsky and
former Chechen rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev, both of whom have been
given asylum in the UK.
Mr Chaika said: "Concerning the Litvinenko case itself, we are also
interested in solving this crime, since, first, he was a Russian
citizen, and second, we have our own versions of the murder.
"This murder may have been committed by Russian citizens living
abroad."
Mr Chaika said on Sunday that the Russian investigators will leave
shortly for London.
British police were subject to strict conditions during their first
trip to Russia in December. They were not allowed to question
witnesses directly, and officials stressed that Britain will not be
able to extradite any Russian suspects.
Mr Chaika's deputy, Alexander Zvyagintsev, was quoted by state-owned
Rossiskaya Gazeta last week as saying that Russian authorities
wanted to question more than 100 witnesses in the UK.
Since Mr Litvinenko's death, traces of the polonium-210 have been
discovered in several restaurants and hotels.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "We are not prepared to comment
at this time."
PW: Amnesty deadline runs out in Chechnya
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January 16th 2007 · Prague Watchdog / Umalt Chadayev
Prague Watchdog
http://www.watchdog.cz
Amnesty deadline runs out in Chechnya
By Umalt Chadayev
CHECHNYA - Today (January 15) marks the end of the amnesty for members
of armed groups and federal servicemen which was declared by the
Russian State Duma in September 2006.
According to the data of the various law enforcement bodies, from 470
to 546 guerrillas turned themselves in during the amnesty. The oldest
was aged 75, and the youngest 16.
This information is supplied by the Interior Ministry of the Chechen
Republic. A Chechen police officer says that in his opinion the
government amnesty for former members of armed groups "will save the
lives of hundreds of people."
"Not only has it been possible to save the lives of these people, many
of whom were drawn into illegal activities by means of deception, but
also the lives of hundreds of others - soldiers, members of the law
enforcement agencies and so on. After all, 500 armed men are a rather
serious force. Especially if one considers that in the whole of the
North Caucasus about 1,500 militants are operating," the officer
asserts.
According to the officer, criminal proceedings have been opened in
relation to only four of those who have voluntarily laid down their
arms. "In 265 cases there were no criminal proceedings at all, and
more than 60 militants have already been granted amnesty.
Investigations are continuing into the cases of the rest," he says.
The Kremlin-backed Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has called
the amnesty "effective". "If 400 well-armed insurgents with experience
of partisan activities have saved an equivalent number of lives, in
addition to their own, then the amnesty can with justification be
called effective," he said in an interview for RIA Novosti.
"This action has been thought out in depth, and is aimed primarily at
that section of our young people who have been exposed to the
influence of a hostile ideology and know nothing except weapons."
Kadyrov also expressed the opinion that there is no need for an
extension of the amnesty.
However, not everyone agrees that the amnesty has produced exclusively
positive results. "The widely proclaimed amnesty is yielding its
fruits: people who believed the federal government's promises and were
granted formal amnesty are being abducted. And then they are charged
with the offences from which they have only just been seemingly
freed," representatives of the Memorial human rights centre say.
"This amnesty is just another PR move by the Russian authorities. I
believe that was intended primarily to grant amnesty to soldiers of
the federal forces who had committed various crimes in the course of
military actions," 44-year-old Ismail – an instructor at one of the
republic's institutes of higher education in Grozny – is convinced.
"As for the guerrillas who have surrendered in groups and
individually, I have serious doubts about them. I somehow didn't see
any guerrillas being shown on TV coming down from the mountains with
weapons in their hands."
"It was recently announced that a 75-year-old guerrilla had turned
himself in! Imagine this white-bearded old man running about in the
forest with a machine gun. Or earlier there was a story about the
surrender of a female "accomplice of the insurgents". This may have
been a woman somewhere who once gave someone a meal or gave him
lodging for the night. In addition, the people who have `surrendered'
include those who gave up all practical activity back in the first
military campaign. Sultan Geliskhanov, for example, who headed the
Ichkerian department of state security under [first Chechen president]
Dudayev, and who did not actually take part in the fighting," he says.
The amnesty for former guerrillas which ended today is by no means the
first one declared by Russia during the two military campaigns in the
republic. In December 1994, after the beginning of the "First Chechen
War", the Russian government declared an amnesty for members of
Dzhokhar Dudayev's armed groups.
Around 500 people took advantage of the December 13-17 1994 amnesty
declared by President Boris Yeltsin. In February 1996 the Russian
State Duma granted an amnesty to Salman Raduyev's guerrillas, who in
January of that year had taken hostages in the Daghestani city of
Kizlyar. This was a measure that was forced on the authorities, since
only thereafter did Raduyev subsequently release 12 members of the the
Novosibirsk OMON who were taken prisoner in the village of
Pervomayskoye.
After the completion of military actions in the territory of the
Chechen Republic, in March 1997 the Russian State Duma declared an
amnesty for all participants in armed actions in Chechnya, including
both guerrillas and soldiers of the federal forces who had committed
crimes in the course of military operations.
On December 13 1999, already in the course of a "counter-terrorist
operation", the Russian State Duma declared a new amnesty for members
of armed groups. One additional amnesty for guerrillas was declared in
Chechnya during September 2003 in connection with the adoption of the
republic's constitution.
Finally, in July 2006 director Nikolai Patrushev, director of the FSB
and leader of Russia's National Anti-terrorist Committee called on
members of armed groups to lay down their arms and return to civilian
life. In September 2006 the Russian State Duma passed a similar
resolution. The deadline of this amnesty expired today.
Translated by David McDuff.
(A/MD,T)
Success of Chechen Amnesty Plan Is Contested
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Success of Chechen Amnesty Plan Is Contested
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: January 16, 2007
MOSCOW, Jan. 15 — An amnesty program sponsored by Russia that was
intended to entice Chechen militants into civilian life ended Monday
with official claims that hundreds of militants had accepted the offer
and that the program had further weakened the separatist insurgency.
The amnesty program, announced by the Kremlin last summer after the
death of Shamil Basayev, the Chechen terrorist leader, offered
militants who had not committed grave crimes the chance to put down
their arms and live free from prosecution.
Russia has promoted the program aggressively, insisting that it was
part of a comprehensive counterinsurgency effort that has contributed
to the ebb of guerrilla and terrorist activity in Chechnya since late
in 2004.
The remaining separatists have derided it as a sham and said the men
presented as former militants in the Russian news media often were not
militants at all, but prisoners and kidnapped relatives of militants
who had been forced into role-playing by Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the
pro-Kremlin Chechen premier.
The dueling statements highlighted the difficulties of precisely
assessing the state of the insurgency in Chechnya and neighboring
regions in southwestern Russia.
Militant activity has slowed since Chechen terrorists seized a public
school in Beslan in 2004, an act that ended with more than 300
civilian deaths and undermined support among Westerners for the
separatists. It also came as Russia and Chechen forces aligned to Mr.
Kadyrov were tightening their hold on the war-ravaged republic.
Since then, government reconstruction efforts have begun and several
of the best-known separatists have been killed, including Mr. Basayev
and two former Chechen leaders, Aslan Maskhadov and Abdul Khalim
Saidullayev.
The separatists, while still conducting ambushes and occasional small
raids, have had far less visible success on the ground than in years
past. But they have maintained a defiant posture on the Internet, and
often challenge official government statements.
As the program's deadline passed on Monday, Nikolai V. Kalugin, the
deputy prosecutor of Chechnya, said in a telephone interview that 467
former militants had registered for amnesty, including a rush of fresh
applicants over the past four weeks as the deadline neared.
Of those, he said, 305 former militants had been granted amnesty and
19 were under criminal investigation because they were suspected of
committing crimes too serious to waive prosecution. The remainder of
cases were still under review, Mr. Kalugin said.
He said the total number of applicants might grow as up-to-date
tallies are included from neighboring republics, where Chechen
militants and supporters from other Muslim ethnic groups also operate.
The Interfax news agency said 546 people had applied for amnesty,
citing an unidentified official from the National Counterterrorist
Committee. It said the applicants ranged in age from 16 to 75,
although most were between 20 and 45. Among them were three women who
had prepared to become suicide bombers, Interfax reported.
But Mr. Kalugin said that most of those who sought amnesty were
low-level militants or commanders leading formations of no more than
six or seven fighters, and that no prominent separatists had come
forward.
He also said the program had suffered problems, including death
threats from active militants against the families of militants who
were contemplating surrender.
"There was a powerful counter-action by the side of those who did not
want the amnesty program to take effect," he said. "People were
threatened by those odious figures who will never surrender."
Kavkaz Center, a separatist Web site that posts militant Islamic
content, disputed the official accounts today. It said in an Internet
posting that most of the supposed militants given amnesty were
"kidnapped relatives of mujahedeen or ordinary people or disguised
Kadyrovites or even prisoners who were promised freedom if they play
the role of militants."
The site, which at times had carried the messages of Mr. Basayev, the
slain terrorist leader, also disputed official statements that a
former driver and two former bodyguards of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev,
another of the slain leaders of the separatist government, were among
the militants who surrendered.
Instead, it said that no active fighters had laid down arms and that
the numbers of militants was actually growing, an assertion the
separatists often make on the Internet, even as the pace of fighting
has slowed.
Neither the account from the government nor that from the separatists
could be immediately confirmed, in part because the government did not
publish a roster of the militants it said had surrendered, making an
independent accounting impossible.
546 Militants in Chechnya Surrender
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http://www.foxnews.com
546 Militants in Chechnya Surrender
Monday, January 15, 2007
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — More than 500 armed militants in Chechnya
and
other parts of Russia's troubled North Caucasus surrendered to
authorities as part of an amnesty that expired Monday, a Russian
official said.
Authorities proposed the amnesty last summer as part of efforts to
secure peace and normalcy in Chechnya. The offer, which expired at
midnight, promised that surrendering militants would avoid prosecution
unless they were suspected of grave crimes such as murder, rape or
terrorism.
An official with the office of Dmitry Kozak, President Vladimir
Putin's envoy to the southern federal district, told The Associated
Press that more than 500 militants had turned themselves in; the
official spoke on condition of anonymity since he was n
ot authorized
to speak to the media.
Among those surrendering during the weekend were two bodyguards and
the driver of slain Chechen rebel leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev,
officials said.
News agencies, meanwhile, cited Russia's national anti-terrorism
committee as saying that 546 militants have surrendered since July.
The Kremlin has offered several similar amnesties in the past — with
varying results. The latest proposal followed the July death of
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who masterminded the 2004 school
hostage-taking in Beslan, Russia, and other major attacks during 12
years of nearly constant conflict in Chechnya.
According to rights groups, many of those who surrender join the ranks
of Chechnya's security forces, which have been accused of involvement
in abductions, torture and extrajudicial killings targeting civilians.
Large-scale battles in Chechnya ended years ago, but rebels continue
to stage regular hit-and-run raids against federal forces and local
allied paramilitaries. Militant attacks have also become increasingly
common in other republics in the North Caucasus.
European Court to Rule on First Torture Case from Chechnya
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European Court to Rule on First Torture Case from Chechnya
(Utrecht, January 16, 2007) The European Court of Human Rights will
rule on
the first case concerning torture in Chechnya on 18 January 2007,
Stichting
Russian Justice Initiative said today. The judgment will be the first
in a
string of torture cases from Chechnya lodged with the Court.
The case concerns brothers Adam and Arbi Chitayev who were detained by
Russian servicemen in April 2000 at their home in Achkhoy-Martan,
Chechnya.
During their nearly four-month detention at the Achkhoy-Martan police
station and the infamous Chernokozovo detention center, both brothers
were
subjected to torture, including beatings, electric shock, and choking,
and
were forced to confess to crimes they did not commit. The brothers were
never brought before a court, however, and the case was later closed
due to
a lack of evidence of their involvement in the alleged crimes.
The Chitayev family appealed the detention of their relatives in
numerous
forums for months, but failed to receive even an official notification
of
the brothers' detention until late July 2000. Upon their release in
early
October 2000, Adam and Arbi were threatened with further harm should
they or
their family continue to send complaints regarding their detention or
ill-treatment.
The Human Rights Centre Memorial submitted an initial application to
the
European Court in July 2000 on behalf of the Chitayev brothers in
connection
with their arbitrary detention and the unlawful confiscation of their
personal possessions and the property of their relatives. SRJI has
provided
representation since the summer of 2001, after which it actively
assisted
the Chitayev family in their requests for an investigation into the
circumstances of the brothers' detention and for the return of their
confiscated property.
SRJI submitted additional materials to the European Court in November
2002
to argue violations of the right to be free from torture, the right to
fair
trial, the right to respect for family life, and the right to an
effective
remedy. The case was declared admissible under expedited review in June
2005.
The judgment will be the first of several concerning the use of torture
in
the Chernokozovo detention center. The conditions in Chernokozovo have
been
documented in detail by Human Rights Watch in the report
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/russia_chechnya4
"Welcome to Hell:"
Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Extortion in Chechnya. Chernokozovo
was
also singled out in a statement made by the European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture (CPT) in a July 2001 statement denouncing the
lack of
cooperation with the CPT by the Russian government.
For more information:
In Utrecht, the Netherlands: Jan ter Laak, +31 62 297 5179
In Russia, Nazran: Arsen Sakalov, +7 906 486 0753
Links:
Admissibility
http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=781930&po
rtal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=1132746FF1FE2A468ACCBCD1763D4D814
9
Decision
HRW report http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/russia_chechnya4
CPT statement
http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/rus/2001-15-inf-eng.pdf
RFE/RL: MERKEL DECLINES TO VOUCH FOR PUTIN'S DEMOCRATIC CREDENTIALS
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GERMAN CHANCELLOR DECLINES TO VOUCH FOR PUTIN'S DEMOCRATIC CREDENTIALS.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted by Britain's "The Guardian" on
January 13 as saying that she does not agree with her Social Democratic
predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, that President Putin is "an impeccable
democrat." Merkel noted: "I have not said that yet and I am not going
to
say it now. With Russia, I use the words strategic partnership" (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," January 3 and 9, 2007). On January 14, German
Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is a former aide of Schroeder's,
told a conference in Brussels that Russia lacks firm democratic
traditions, which makes it difficult for the EU to develop close
relations with it, Deutsche Welle reported. He added that one cannot
call Russia an "impeccable democracy." Germany took over the rotating
EU
Presidency on January 1. On January 15, Schroeder and Igor Shuvalov,
who
is a top Kremlin aide and was Putin's chief planner for the July 2006
Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries' summit in St. Petersburg,
sought at a conference in Berlin to rally support for a Russo-German
partnership, RIA Novosti, which was one of the conference's sponsors,
reported. On January 16, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" noted
that
Chancellor Merkel's government maintains a "critical distance" to
Putin.
Deutsche Welle reported on January 14 that following the recent energy
dispute between Moscow and Minsk, there is almost complete unanimity in
the German media that the time has come for the EU to reduce its
dependence on Russian energy supplies because of Moscow's apparent
willingness to use energy as a political tool. PM
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 8, Part I, 16 January 2007
Daymohk: The losses of the army of the RF amounted to 1200 soldiers durin
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The losses of the army of the RF amounted to 1200 soldiers during one
year
According to the evaluations of a source in the Ministry of Defense of
the RF, more than 1200 soldiers died from different causes in the
Russian army in 2006.
Among those killed in the past year, 554 servicemen alone died during
their term of military service.
We remind you that in 2005, the Russia army lost 1064 killed soldiers.
http://daymohk.org/cgi-bin/orsi3/index.cgi?id=29181
[My translation]
KC: Fight Continues in Kyzylyurtovskiy District of Dagestan
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Kavkaz-Center
Fight Continues in Kyzylyurtovskiy District of Dagestan
16.01.2007
Fight reported in the Kyzylyurtovskiy district of Dagestan. As
occupational sources inform, the village of Kirovaul is blocked. To
this settlement large forces of puppet militia and the Russian armies
are tightened.
They affirms, that during fight 1 mojahed near to the settlement of
Kirovaul, on the territory of Kizilyurtovskiy district of Dagestan is
already killed. Clashing has occurred in the place of 2 km from
Kirovaul, in the small thrown summer residence.
Invaders and puppets inform, that on militia fire, during passport
control, has been opened. Killed is recognized as Salman Magomedov.
Other details are not reported.
Free Caucasus: Against international terrorism: Stop a new crime against
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wrote:
Against international terrorism: Stop a new crime against humanity
Monday, 15 January 2007
Stop a new crime against humanity
On November 1, 2006, we witnessed a new era in the spread of nuclear
weapon in the world. It was based on the law adapted by the Russian
State Duma in June 2006 on "the right of Russia to hunt and kill
enemies of Russia anywhere in the world". That law went "unnoticed" by
the democratic states just before the summit of G-8 in Saint
Petersburg (only Russia has such law among all states in the world).
Russian top leadership was legitimated to commit an act of nuclear
terror using radioactive isotope of a rare element polonium-210 in
London, on the territory of NATO countries, against Britain citizen
Alexander Litvinenko, a colonel of the Russian FSB in the past, and
then a strong human rights defender. This time too the Russian special
services are under grave suspicion, although, as always in such cases,
the Kremlin denies its involvement.
Today's authorities in the Kremlin have over recent years been putting
pressure on the Western democracies by protecting the regimes in North Korea and Iran. These regimes are trying to create nuclear weapons
despite the international initiative against this.
The Russian myth that some terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan
are creating a "dirty bomb" turned out to be, mildly saying,
exaggerated. It is clear that nuclear technology is not available to
people in mountain gorges. Time shows that this "canard" about the
insurgents' capability had the aim of diverting blame from the real
nuclear terrorists.
Moscow, confusing the free world with the tales of "Chechen
terrorism", has occupied the territory of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria. From this "lawless zone", isolated from the rest of the
world, reports of "unidentified illnesses and epidemics" that
periodically strike the adults and children of this country have made
it through the information blockade and massive lie. All these years
the Kremlin has been testing weapons of mass destruction on the
Chechens there. Journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered on 7
October 2006 in the centre of Moscow just revealed the truth about
those "strange epidemics". This blatant murder of a journalist was a
rallying cry for the entire free world.
During such a nuclear attack, radioactive elements can be dispersed
into the air, go into the ground and contaminate the water supply.
Unnoticed they can contaminate food and drink. This is the method used
for a terrorist attack in England. And it is not yet known how many
other people received lesser doses of radiation in Europe and when
they will die from various "strange" illnesses.
The countries of the free world are left with a limited choice. They
can agree with "isolated" terrorist attacks, and wait until the Kremlin terrorists begin mass deliveries of the means of nuclear
terror to their "friends", or they can stop this activity, not
considering the short-term benefit of Russian gas, oil and other
attractions. It should be borne in mind that the profit gained goes
towards the organisation of newer and greater acts of terror,
unavoidably leading to the demoralisation of free society.
We call on the governments of the Western Europe and the international
public to set up independent, international commissions, including
public ones, to investigate the crimes against humanity in the Chechen
Republic of Ichkeria, Russia and Europe. We call on the UN Security
Council and other international organisations to consider as a matter
of urgency the nuclear threat to life. The threat is too great to be
left until tomorrow.
Nadezhda Banchik, Human Rights activist, journalist, USA
Leonid Plyushch, human rights activist, (member of the Initiative
Group to Protect Human Rights in the USSR, member of the Ukrainian
Helsinki Group). Man of letters (France)
Viktor Faynberg, human rights activist, spoke on Red Square in Moscow
against the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968, (France)
Vissarion Gugushvili, prime minister in the government of Zviad
Gamsakhurdia (Georgia)
Akhyad Idigov, head of the international relations committee of the
Parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Alla Dudaeva, widow of the first president of the Chechen Republic of
Ichkeria, Dzhokhar Dudaev (Lithuania)
Giorgi Alania (Czech Republic)
Viktoria Poupko, founder and Head of Boston Committee Against Ethnic
Cleansing (USA)
Algirdas Endriukaitis, general secretary of the international group of
parliamentarians on the problems of Chechnya (Lithuania)
Dainius Žalimas, deputy head of the department of international law,
Vilnius University (Lithuania)
Andrey P. Grigorenko, President of the Petr Grigorenko Fund (USA)
Mykola Gorbal, human rights activist, member of the Ukrainian Helsinki
Group, deputy of the Ukrainian Supreme Rada (since 1994), musician,
poet (Ukraine)
Romualda Hofertiene, Signatory to the Lithuania Independence,
mathematician
Romualdas Ozolas, Signatory to the Lithuania Independence Sergey
Zhdankin (Ukraine)
Ella Kesaeva, the head of the Voice of Beslan (Russia)
Vladimir Bukovsky, human rights activist, former political prisoner in
the USSR (Great Britain)
Letas Palmaitis, philologist, representative of International Movement
for the Decolonization of the Caucasus to Lithuania Rafis Kashapov
(Tatarstan)
Saidemin Ibragimov, International Assosiation "Peace and Human Rights"
(France)
06.01.2007 (20:23)
Join to Our Action by Adding Your Signatures! vpoupko@...,
nadia76@..., akhyad@...
MT: Quid Pro Quo in Litvinenko Probe
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007. Issue 3576. Page 1.
Quid Pro Quo in Litvinenko Probe
By David Nowak
Staff Writer
British detectives probing the death of former security services agent
Alexander Litvinenko want to return to Russia for a second round of
interviews.
Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said Tuesday that authorities in Moscow
had received a request Monday from the London Metropolitan Police for
permission to send the detectives.
The request appears to set up a quid pro quo between London and
Moscow: The British are said to want more information from Andrei
Lugovoi, Dmitry Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko, all of whom are
considered possible suspects. The Russians want to speak with Russian
tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev.
As Alex Goldfarb, a Litvinenko friend and Kremlin critic, put it, the
current situation looks like a "thinly veiled condition. If the
Russians get access to Berezovsky and Zakayev, then it would be harder
for the Russians to turn down British requests to spea
k again with
Lugovoi and Kovtun in Moscow."
Neither Berezovsky nor Zakayev could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Goldfarb said he had spoken with Berezovsky on Monday and that
Berezovsky would cooperate with the investigation. "If the British
authorities request an interview from Berezovsky, he will cooperate,"
Goldfarb said. "But that's only if the British ask."
Goldfarb, a Soviet-era refusenik, added: "This whole thing is a
farce," he said. "The Russians have no business in London."
Goldfarb also said he would only agree to speak with Russian
authorities in London "if British security experts can rule out the
possibility of the Russians putting polonium in my tea."
Litvinenko died Nov. 23, a little more than three weeks after
ingesting the radioactive isotope polonium-210.
In a deathbed statement, Litvinenko, a former KGB and Federal Security
Service agent, blamed President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning. The
Kremlin has denied any involvement.
Litvinenko fell ill after meeting on Nov. 1 with Lugovoi, also a
former security services agent; Kovtun, a businessman; and Sokolenko,
head of a private Russian security firm. The four met at a bar at the
Millennium Hotel in London.
All three men have denied having anything do with Litvinenko's death.
On their first trip to Moscow, from Dec. 4 to Dec. 20, British
detectives were permitted to watch Russian investigators interview
Lugovoi and Kovtun. It is unknown whether Sokolenko was questioned at
the time.
Lugovoi, reached by telephone Tuesday, said he had no new information
to give British authorities. During a December interview with Russian
detectives -- from a hospital bed at a Moscow clinic where he was
undergoing tests for radiation poisoning -- Lugovoi said he would be
willing to meet with British detectives again.
Sokolenko declined to comment on the Litvinenko investigation in a
brief telephone conversation Tuesday, saying only that he was "fed up"
with the case. "I have nothing to do with the poisoning whatsoever,"
he said, before hanging up.
German authorities found traces of polonium-210 in several locations
in Hamburg, which Kovtun visited before continuing on to London for
his meeting with Litvinenko. Kovtun could not be reached for comment
Tuesday.
Crime experts say repeat interrogations are essential to a complete
investigation.
Mark Galeotti, director of Keele University's Organized Russian and
Eurasian Crime Research Unit, in England, said detectives would have
no choice but to interview Lugovoi and Kovtun again if they unearthed
new information.
Despite possible concerns that Moscow will deny British detectives
access, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the presidential
administration, said Scotland Yard investigators would "most likely be
free to speak to Lugovoi and Kovtun again."
A source at the Prosecutor General's Office, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, backed up Peskov, indicating that officials in
Moscow were open to giving the British access to suspects in the
Litvinenko case.
Chaika, for his part, suggested that British detectives would be
welcomed back to Russia only after Russian authorities had visited
London.
"It's very likely that once our representatives have visited London,
we will welcome our [British] colleagues here," Chaika said, Interfax
reported.
Russian authorities have strongly hinted that Berezovsky, who in 2000
fled the country after a falling out with Putin, is a suspect in the
Litvinenko case. British detectives have interviewed Berezovsky but
are not believed to consider him a suspect.
"We don't rule out that murder was carried out by a Russian living
abroad," Chaika said. Referring to Berezovsky, who is wanted in Russia
on multiple charges, including plotting a violent coup, Chaika added:
"We intend to question him only about the Litvinenko case."
Zakayev, a Chechen rebel envoy, was a neighbor and close friend of
Litvinenko. He is also an outspoken critic of Putin.
State-controlled media in Russia have speculated that Berezovsky had
Litvinenko killed in an attempt to discredit the Kremlin.
Russia Said to Stall EU Court
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/51334
--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
Russia Said to Stall EU Court
Reuters, Jan.16, 2007
A leading human rights lawyer accused the Kremlin on Tuesday of
deliberately obstructing the work of the European Court of Human
Rights because it had been angered by a series of adverse rulings on
Russia.
President Vladimir Putin last week expressed unhappiness with the
Strasbourg-based court, saying some of its decisions on Russia were
political.
Russia is the only one of 46 countries under the court's jurisdiction
that has not ratified a reform intended to help the court deal with a
backlog of cases and ensure rulings are implemented.
"It is clear that the Russian authorities want to block the activity
of the European Court of Human Rights," said Karina Moskalenko, a
lawyer who has represented Russian plaintiffs in the European court.
"This is lamentable," she said. "If you join an honorable club then
you have to carry out the commitments you made as part of that club."
The State Duma on Dec. 20 refused to ratify the document, called
Protocol 14, which sets out the reform of the court.
The chamber's Legislation Committee said the protocol would weaken
checks and balances on the court's work.
Moskalenko said those arguments were invented to mask the Kremlin's
opposition to the court.
Russia is the biggest source of applications to the court, a fact that
rights activists say is testament to its lack of respect for human
rights and also the lack of independence of its own judicial system.
Chechen Rebel Web Site Derides Amnesty Offer
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--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
Chechen Rebel Web Site Derides Amnesty Offer
The Associated Press, Jan. 16, 2007
A Chechen rebel-linked web site derided the Kremlin-backed amnesty
offer for separatist fighters as "propaganda," as Russian news
agencies reported Tuesday that more militants had surrendered after
the deadline expired.
A statement posted on the Kavkaz Center's web site said the offer was
"the latest stage of propaganda in an endless sequence of
disinformation, which Moscow has used for many years offering it as
reality."
The statement, dated Monday, asserted that most of the militants given
amnesty did not fight in the so-called second war in Chechnya, which
began in 1999, and that most were civilians and relatives of
separatist fighters who were kidnapped by federal forces or allied
regional security forces.
There was no immediate way to verify the rebel statement, nor the
announcement by federal officials Monday that more than 500 militants
had turned themselves in before the midnight deadline
.
News agencies said Tuesday that another six militants had turned
themselves in to Chechen officials.
Authorities offered the amnesty in July as part of efforts to restore
peace and some measure of normal life in Chechnya.
They promised that militants who surrendered would not be prosecuted
unless they were suspected of serious crimes such as murder, rape or
terrorism.
The Kremlin has offered several similar deals in the past -- all of
which have led to mixed results.
The latest proposal followed the death in July of the Chechen warlord
Shamil Basayev, responsible for many of the worst terror attacks to
hit Russia since 1994, when the first post-Soviet war in the region
began.
Human rights groups say many militants who surrender join the ranks of
Chechnya's security forces, which have themselves been accused of
involvement in abductions, torture and extrajudicial killings of
civilians.
Kommersant: Ramzan Kadyrov claims credit for "the amnesty"
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--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
RAMZAN KADYROV CLAIMS CREDIT FOR THE AMNESTY;
Results of the amnesty tallied in the Chechen prime minister's favor
Olga Allenova
The amnesty for separatists in the North Caucasus is over; The amnesty
for gunmen in the Caucasus is over. Security structures describe it as
a success, saying that the criminal underground is "practically wiped
out." Human rights groups see the amnesty as a function designed to
serve the interests of Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov.
The decision to call another amnesty was prompted by the elimination
of Shamil Basayev last year. When the special operation was over, FSB
Director Nikolai Patrushev, chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism
Committee, sent gunmen an ultimatum and demanded their surrender by
August 1. The ultimatum fell flat, and the deadline was extended to
September. On September 22, the Duma announced an amnesty for members
of illegal armed formations who have not been involved in major
crimes. According to the data the National Counter-Terrorism Committee
released yesterday, 546 gunmen surrendered, bringing entire arsenals
with them.
The invitation to lay down weapons was eagerly accepted in Chechnya.
Judging by a press release from the Chechen government, 439 gunmen
surrendered in Chechnya alone. "Thirty have surrendered in 2007,
including Amirhan and Wahid, two nephews of Zelimhan Yandarbiyev, the
former head of Ichkeria," said Chechen government spokesman Lema
Gudayev yesterday. Yandarbiyev, his driver, and two bodyguards were
killed by a car-bomb in Qatar in February 2004. The surrender of his
relatives has now become Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov's major
achievement. The National Counter-Terrorism Committee also reports
that the gunmen who surrendered included Argun and Shatoi emirs,
relatives of Doku Umarov and Salman Raduyev, and Turpal-Ali Kaimov
(one of the leaders of the Chechen diaspora in Oslo, Norway).
"Illegal armed formations are practically wiped out, their ringleaders
either exterminated or tried and sentenced," Kadyrov said yesterday
toting up the amnesty. The prime minister added that the former gunmen
were not to be abandoned now that they had surrendered, that they
would be offered jobs with law enforcement agencies (that's a
tradition in Chechnya now). "The Kadyrov Regiment is staffed with
amnestied gunmen by 99%," Kadyrov said, "North and South battalions by
almost 90%. We do not aim to kill. We aim to put an end to the war to
save lives."
The amnesty proved a dismal failure in Kabardino-Balkaria and
Ingushetia. All calls to gunmen to surrender neglected in
Kabardino-Balkaria, the local authorities and law enforcement agencies
decided to improve their performance at the cost of Nalchik raiders
already in custody. Twelve of them were amnestied, and the trick
enabled the regional authorities to make a report to Moscow. Human
rights activists maintain that these people were to be set free in any
case because their involvement in the raid had never been proved, but
who listens to human rights activists? There is no information
whatsoever on results of the amnesty in Ingushetia. When we called the
regional prosecutor's office for comments, staff denied any knowledge
of the subject. Thirty-six gunmen surrendered in Dagestan: very few,
for this crime-ridden region. President Muhu Aliyev of Dagestan said
that terrorism in his region will remain a problem for a long time to
come, and pinned part of the blame on unemployment. Any gunmen who
surrender in Dagestan, Ingushetia, or Kabardino-Balkaria become
unemployed - because unlike Chechnya, these regions do not have
presidential regiments or security structures staffed with former
enemies of the constitutional regime.
"This amnesty is a function designed and carried out in the interests
of Kadyrov alone," says human rights activist Heydar Jemal. "It isn't
hard to see that the amnesty hasn't changed anything in the Caucasus.
Repressions against religious youths in Kabardino-Balkaria continue,
meaning that the ranks of the resistance will keep swelling. In
Dagestan, the confrontation between the Interior Ministry and the
public is gaining in intensity. Nothing has changed even in Chechnya
itself. Look who is surrendering there. People who have never actually
fought anyone. Somebody's relatives or acquaintances who were
persuaded to pretend that they are surrendering, so that Kadyrov could
tell the country that the underground is gone. The amnesty was
intended to distract public attention. The confrontation in Chechnya
is not over."
Other human rights activists are also skeptical about the effect of
the amnesty. They maintain that amnesties make sense only when all
crimes are pardoned, including major crimes, because this is the only
condition on which people who pose a threat to society will surrender.
"If participation in fighting the federal forces is regarded as an
unpardonable crime, then who is supposed to be eligible for the
amnesty?" says Oleg Orlov from the Memorial society. "Only the
gunmen's cooks and servants."
"Secret service databases include files on about 200 so-called
irreconcilable gunmen, people who would never even consider
surrendering," says Duma member Franz Klintsevich. "They can only be
killed. The amnesty was intended for the people who just happened to
be in the resistance, and this task was accomplished. Yet it would be
inaccurate to describe this amnesty as particularly effective. There
are still some gangs in Chechnya, after all."
Presidential Adviser Aslambek Aslakhanov said yesterday that the
amnesty should be extended again, to give a chance to those who wish
to surrender but were late for some reason. Aslakhanov maintains that
the amnesty should apply to Chechens who emigrated in late 1999.
Moreover, it is necessary to draw a distinction between ordinary
criminals and ideologically-motivated activists of illegal armed
formations.
Vladimir Vasiliev, chairman of the Duma's security committee, said
yesterday that the amnesty is over and it won't be extended again.
Nobody in Chechnya was upset to hear that. Kadyrov has already
promised that anyone who failed to surrender over the last six months
(during the amnesty) could do so at any subsequent time, because the
Criminal Code "includes a mechanism [commentary to Article 286 -
Kommersant permitting a pardon."
Source: Kommersant, January 16, 2007, p. 2
Translated by A. Ignatkin
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