Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

RUSSIANS: "SCHOOL SEIZURE WAS PLANNED IN WASHINGTON AND LONDON."

Russia states ‘household figures’ are involved in the Beslan massacre of Russian schoolchildren. The connection also exists between Zakavew granted political asylum in London and Akhmadov granted political asylum in the United States.

Russia has retaliated by demanding that Akhmad Zakayew, now being given sanctuary in London and Ilyas Akhmadov now residing in the US, be turned over to Russia for planning and conducting the Beslan massacre.
#msg-3959917

-Am

* RUSSIA * BESLAN * HOSTAGE-TAKING * MASTERMINDS * TORSHIN *
BIGGER MEN BEHIND BASAYEV & MASKHADOV: BESLAN COMMISSION HEAD

2004-11-16 20:33
VLADIKAVKAZ, November 16 (RIA Novosti's Albina Olisayeva) - Much bigger figures are looming behind Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen separatist leaders assumed to have masterminded the Beslan school hostage-taking act of early September. The opinion belongs to a parliamentary Beslan investigation commission, Alexander Torshin, its head, said to a news conference.

"They are household figures. The people are pursuing their ends. They are evidently working outside Russia. I don't want to mention universally known names now. The men are sitting pretty in London," was the only vague information that came from the MP.

The Beslan tragedy is to be regarded as a link in a chain of terror acts to strike the entire Caucasus and undermine Russia, he pointed out.

"The game is on at a very high level, and we shall do what we can to track down those who plotted and perpetrated the act." Thus, the commission intends to appeal to the Foreign Intelligence Service for relevant information.

http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5094590&startrow=1&date=2004-11-16&am....






RUSSIANS: "SCHOOL SEIZURE WAS PLANNED IN WASHINGTON AND LONDON."
September 11, 2004

Sept. 7--RUSSIAN NEWS SERVICE: "SCHOOL SEIZURE WAS PLANNED IN WASHINGTON AND LONDON."

Under this headline, the Russians news agency KMNews.ru today carries an
unsigned commentary, laying the blame for the Beslan events at the
doorstep of U.S. and British agencies, in rather explicit terms.

Its point of departure is that Shamil Basayev, the brutal Chechen field
commander, has been linked to the attack (something that Putin advisor
Aslambek Aslakhanov yesterday said was known to the Russian FSB).

The article plays up the recent rapprochement of London and Washington
with key representatives of Aslan Maskhadov: Britain's giving asylum to
Akhmad Zakayev (December 2003) and the USA doing the same for Ilyas
Akhmadov (August 2004).

KMNews writes: "In early August, ... `Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Chechen Republic-Ichkeria' Ilyas Akhmadov received political asylum in
the USA. And for his `outstanding services,' Akhmadov received a
Reagan-Fascell grant, including a monthly stipend, medical insurance,
and a well-equipped office with all the support services that might be
needed, including the possibility of meetings with people from political
circles and leading U.S. media....

"What about our partners in the `anti-terrorist coalition,' who provided
asylum, offices and money to Maskhadov's representatives?" Citing the
official expressions of sympathy and offers of help from President Bush,
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher, KMNews continues, "But let's not shed tears
of gratitude just yet. First we should ask: were `Special Representative
of the President of CRI' Zakayev or `Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
CRI' Akhmadov, located in Great Britain and the USA, aware of the
terrorist acts that were in preparation? Beyond a doubt -- as the French
say, noblesse oblige: their position required it. And let's also find
out, how Akhmadov is spending the money provided by the Reagan-Fascell
Foundation. We note: this Foundation is financed by the U.S. Congress
through the budget of the State Department!

"Thus, the conclusion is obvious. Willingly or not, Downing Street and
the White House provoked the guerrillas to these latest attacks.
Willingly or not, Great Britain and the USA have nurtured the
separatists with material, information and diplomatic resources.
Willingly or not, the policy of London and Washington fostered the
current terrorist acts. "As the ancients said, cui bono? Perhaps we are
too hasty with such sweeping accusations against our `friends' and
`partners'? Is there a motive for the Anglo-American `anti-terrorist
coalition' to fan the fires of terror in the North Caucasus?

"Alas, there is a motive. It is no secret, that the West is vitally
interested in maintaining instability in the Caucasus. That makes it
easier to pump out the fossil fuels, extracted in the Caspian region,
and it makes it easier to control Georgia and Azerbaijan, and to exert
influence on Armenia. Finally, it makes it easier to drive Russia out of
the Caspian and the Caucasus. Divide et impera! - the leaders of the
Roman Empire already introduced this simple formula for subjugation.

"Alas, it must be recognized that the co-authors of the current tragic
events are to be found not in the Arab countries of the Middle East, but
on the banks of the Thames and the Potomac. Will the leadership of
Russia be able to take decisions, in this situation?

"Yes - if there is the political will. The first thing, is that black
must be called blck, and white white. It is time to admit that no
"antiterrorist coalition" exists, that the West is pursuing its
egotistical interests (spreading its political influence, seizing fossil
fuels deposits, etc.).

Our own coalition needs to be formed, with nations that are genuinely
interested in eliminating terror in the North Caucasus.

"Finally, it is time to change the entire tactics and strategy of
counterterrorism measures. It is obvious that catching female suicide
bombers on the streets of Moscow or carrying out operations to free
children who are taken hostage, are, so to speak, the `last line of
defense.' It is time to learn to make preemptive strikes against the
enemy, and it's time to carry combat onto the territory of the enemy.
Otherwise, we shall be defeated."

[Source: Le Monde] PARIS, SEPT. 7TH (EIRNS)--PUTIN TO A GROUP OF 30
JOURNALISTS AND RUSSIAN SPECIALISTS : "CERTAIN WESTERN CIRCLES WOULD
LIKE TO WEAKEN RUSSIA AS THE ROMANS WANTED TO DESTROY CARTHAGE."

{Le Monde} (Sept 8) gives extensive quotes from the 3.5 hour meeting,
held Monday evening by Russian President Vladimir Putin with some thirty
foreign journalists and Russian specialists at his Novo Ogarevo
residence outside Moscow. The Kremlin has not released a transcript.

(The British {Guardian} and {Independent} also carried coverage, but the
account in {Le Monde} was marginally less fragmentary.)

"There is no link between Russian policy in Chechnya and the
hostage-taking in Beslan," reaffirmed the Russian President.

According to Le Monde: "The aim of that international terrorism,
supported more or less openly by foreign states, whose names the Russian
president didn't want to name, is to weaken Russia from the inside, by
criminalizing its economy, by provoking its disintegration via
propagating separatism in the Caucasus and the transformation of the
region into a staging ground for actions directed against the Russian
Federation."

"Mr. Putin," continues Le Monde, "reiterated the accusation he had
launched in a veiled form against western countries which appear to use
double-talk.

On the one side, their leaders assure the Russian President of their
solidarity in the fight against terrorism. On the other hand, the
intelligence services and the military -- `who have not abandoned their
Cold War prejudices' [quote from Putin] -- entertain contacts with those
the international press calls the `rebels.' `Why are those who emulate
Bin Laden called terrorists and the people who kill children, rebels?
Where is the logic?' asked Vladimir Putin, then providing the answer:
`Because certain political circles in the West want to weaken Russia
just like the Romans wanted to destroy Cartage.' But, continued Putin,
`we will not allow this scenario to come to pass.'"

Continues Le Monde, "This is, according to him, a bad calculation
because Russia is a factor of stability. By weakening it, the Cold War
nostalgics act clearly against the interests of their country." And
Putin continues: "We are the sincere champions of this cooperation
[against terrorism], we are open and loyal partners. But if foreign
services have contacts with the `rebels,' they cannot be as reliable
allies, as Russia is for them."

[Source: London Guardian, Sept. 7]

PUTIN ON NEGOTIATING WITH ASLAN MASKHADOV'S FORCES.

In {Guardian} correspondent Jonathan Steele's account of the meeting
with Putin, this direct quotation is given from the Russian President's
response on the question of negotiating with the Chechen guerrillas:

"Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the
White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to
him so he leaves you in peace? You find it possible to set some
limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk
to people who are child-killers?"

[Source: Russian wires]

Sept. 7--OFFICIAL MOURNING IN RUSSIA. Red Square was filled by
demonstrators expressing grief and solidarity against the attacks on
Russia, in the second day of mourning for the victims of the Beslan
massacre. Some carried placards stating their support for President
Putin. The official Kremlin web site showed the President at a service
in one of Moscow's Russian Orthodox churches.

[Source: Kremln web site]

Sept. 7--PUTIN VISIT TO GERMANY POSTPONED. The Kremlin today announced
the postponement of Russian-German talks that had been slated for Sept.
10-11.

[Source: RIA Novosti]

Sept. 7--RUSSIA ASKS EXTRADITION OF ZAKAYEV, AKHMADOV.

RIA Novosti reports a statement from the Russia Foreign Ministry's
Department of Information and Press (not available to be checked on the
Ministry site), which indicates that Russia will put the United States
and Britain on the spot about extraditing two top Chechen separatist
officials, who have been given asylum in Washington and London,
respectively.

They are Akhmed Zakayev, known as a "special representative" of Aslan
Maskhadov (in London), and Ilyas Akhmadov, the "Foreign Minister" of the
unrecognized "Chechen Republic-Ichkeria" (now in the USA).

RIA Novosti quotes the document as saying, "The relevant Russian
agencies have never ceased working with our foreign partners to get
persons, complicit in terrorist activity, handed over for trial in
Russia. The first results of the investigation of the terrorists act in
Beslan point to the complicity of Aslan Maskhadov and his henchmen."
(Zakayev has issued statements, denying Maskhadov's involvement, but
saying that Maskhadov offered his services as a mediator, during the
incident.

Zakayev wrote an op-ed in the {Guardian}, claiming that Maskhadov does
not advocate killing children, but understands what happened as an act
of desperation because thousands of children were killed by the Russians
during the two wars in Chechnya.)

The Foreign Ministry document goes on to say that "the latest crimes of
the guerrillas, especially those committed recently in North Ossetia,
will help many people in the West, where Zakayev and Akhamadov have
found political asylum, see the true face of terror and understand how
misled they have been."

[Source: Times of India, ``World,'' Sept. 7 1984]


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http://www.siener.co.za/Nuus/Sept/120904RussSeizureUSABritain.htm