Posted on 10/01/2001 9:12:00 AM PDT by Pericles
Monday October 1, 8:27 PM
Russia rejects Georgian mediation offer
MOSCOW, Oct 1 (AFP) - Two years to the day since it poured troops into Chechnya, Russia on Monday brushed aside a Georgian offer to mediate an end to the conflict in the breakaway republic, describing the fighting as an "internal problem."
"Moscow does not need international intermediaries to end the crisis in Chechnya," the Kremlin's chief spokesman on Chechen affairs, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, told AFP.
And an aide to President Vladimir Putin's envoy to Russia's southern region, General Viktor Kazantsev, quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency, said Russia was "capable of solving its internal problems by itself."
It was unclear however whether the rejection of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's offer to mediate would be the last word on the prospects for talks between Moscow and the Chechen rebels.
Shevardnadze's offer, issued Sunday in response to a call from the Chechen side, appeared to herald the first serious move towards negotiations since the conflict began.
It followed an admission by Kazantsev on Russian television that he had spoken with representatives of Chechen rebel President Aslan Maskhadov, confirmed on Saturday by Maskhadov aide Akhmed Zakayev who said he had met Kazantsev.
Analysts have been sceptical from the outset that Shevardnadze could contribute to finding a settlement, partly because Moscow has always insisted that the Chechen conflict is an internal affair but also because it accuses Georgia of providing a haven for Chechen rebels.
Yastrzhembsky noted caustically that Russia "would appreciate Georgian efforts contributing to the world campaign against international terrorism, in particular ... by taking measures to bar Chechen terrorists and mercenaries on its territory."
Signs of possible movement in the Chechen deadlock emerged last Monday with Putin's televised suggestion that rebels should contact his representatives in the republic to discuss surrendering their weapons.
Accompanied by a 72-hour deadline, the proposal was widely interpreted as an ultimatum that the rebels would be bound to reject, thereby providing a pretext for intensified Russian military activity.
It was also seen as a successful propaganda ploy, linking the Chechen rebels with "international terrorists" at a time when the world is preoccupied with the US-led campaign to track down Osama bin Laden, the Saudi dissident charged with masterminding the attacks on US cities.
Analyst Andrei Piontkovsky noted that "Putin's great psychological and political task was to link events in Chechnya to the September 11 attacks ... and he succeeded, Western attitudes to the Russian operation have changed."
But he warned: "Nonetheless, it's crazy. It's not the West that is preventing us from winning the war. It's a problem that can't be resolved by military means."
It was "natural for the Chechens to wish to use Putin's proposal as a way of starting negotiations, but they will never discuss capitulation," he said.
While observers agree that Putin will attempt to exploit opportunities provided by the US-led anti-terrorist campaign, some see him as coming under increased pressure, above all facing the prospect of involvement in wars on two fronts on Russia's southern flank.
Over the weekend, on the eve of the war's second anniversary, Russian troops in Chechnya stepped up their activities and nearly 30 people, mostly rebels, died in a 24-hour period, according to Russian sources.
Few observers believe that that Russia can win the war militarily, even though the Kremlin has set its face against a negotiated settlement.
However, Russian public opinion has been turning slowly but steadily against the war as the toll of federal troops killed in action mounts.
And the rebel Chechen appeal to Shevardnadze to intervene suggested that the separatists, themselves under pressure amid the prevailing "anti-terrorist" rhetoric, believed that nothing could be lost my making exploratory contacts.
Yastrzhembsky noted caustically that Russia "would appreciate Georgian efforts contributing to the world campaign against international terrorism, in particular ... by taking measures to bar Chechen terrorists and mercenaries on its territory." I hope you like your winter without gas or electricity, Shevy.
Over the weekend, on the eve of the war's second anniversary, Russian troops in Chechnya stepped up their activities and nearly 30 people, mostly rebels, died in a 24-hour period, according to Russian sources. No wonder the Chechens are squealing.
It was also seen as a successful propaganda ploy, linking the Chechen rebels with "international terrorists" at a time when the world is preoccupied with the US-led campaign to track down Osama bin Laden, the Saudi dissident charged with masterminding the attacks on US cities. Maybe because one of the 9/11 terrorists was a Chechen fighter? Race to find the final proof-- The clues that point to bin Laden--War on terrorism - Observer special: "Ahmed al-Ghamdi, one of those who flew the United Airlines plane into the south tower, had fought in Chechnya, as had Nawaq al-Hamzi, one of those who crashed into the Pentagon."
However, Russian public opinion has been turning slowly but steadily against the war Based on whose opinion polls? Those of George Soros?
Go Russia !!!!!!!!!!!
I will imitate an airline stewardesses and say:
BUH-BYE!!!
Russia is in their rights on this one. I expect them to obliterate their nemesis in this case and support them doing such.
For the first time in my life I'm actually hoping Russia totally annihilates someone they're fighting.
The Chechen war is different in that regard. The Chechens are really an internal problem, since their territory has always been inside Russia. No one in the west really cared about them before all this mess, and now so even less. They would be well advised to take what the Russians offer them....
Literally.
Georgia supports the democratically elected government of president Aslan Maskhadov as does the United States. Russian genocide in Chechnya cannot be permitted to continue unabated simply because Islamic entente forces have stunned America.
Yet we see in America a comprehensive ignorance about this part of the world that is manifested in sudden cries to support Russia. Moscow is suddenly a friend of America?
This same ignorance also shows itself in the daily screams for the US to attack Afghanistan. Got news for you pal -- the US will not be attacking anybody anytime soon.
Although American forces are now prepared to launch -- there is little desire to crush Afghanistan if the price to do so is Chicago and Houston being nuked by "Allah's suitcase."
Amazingly, it is the enemy that now has the nuclear deterrent. US forces are frozen...
The chilling understanding that the enemy's next target will probably be a large US college campus also gives America pause for thought. Security at these institutions is non-existent -- a half kiloton blast at Chapel Hill, Austin, or Tuscaloosa would not only kill ten thousand college students, but would traumatize an entire generation.
Already tens of thousands of American college kids suffering new forms of stress related to the 911 attacks. Meanwhile their 20 and 21 year old enemy counterparts prepare for war with America by carrying a gun -- and using it.
Is this really the time for America to turn her back on Chechen freedom fighters that worship the United States? With the globe soon to explode in the Third World War, perhaps it best to have these fighters remain loyal to the US.
Washington needs to examine this issue closely before the snows fall in the Caucusus. Time grows short for all mankind.
The forces of freedom on the move. Europe trembles.
The IRON CURTAIN of tyranny, fostered by state politics or promoted by state religion will be dwelt the same fate.
buh-bye
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