2 december 2004
- CoE inspectors visit Chechen prisons: A mission from the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment has inspected several detention centres in
Chechnya, reports Interfax.
6 december 2004
- Putin in India lashes out
against unilateralism: Visiting New Delhi last Friday, President Putin stated that alleged attempts to build a
“unipolar world” were fraught with “dangerous disproportions in economic and social development” and with
growing terrorism, organised crime and drug-trafficking. Putin criticised the West for setting double standards
on terrorism, pursuing Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Iraq while giving refugee to terrorists
demanding Chechnya’s independence. He also stressed that “out-of-bloc interaction between Russia, India and
China could contribute to global stability and progress”. (Interfax, Kommersant, MT)
- Putin
begins visit to Turkey: After completing his visit to India yesterday, President Putin arrived in Ankara for an
official visit to Turkey. Turkish Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is quoted by Interfax as saying
that a package of bilateral agreements is expected to be signed during the Russian President’s visit. Izvestia
(Saturday’s issue) reports that the Turkish police has arrested 12 armed Chechens on the eve of Putin’s visit.
(Interfax, RIAN, RG, Kommersant, Izvestia)
8 december 2004
- Moscow seeks
more cooperation with Turkey on “Chechen dossier”: (i) Visiting Turkey yesterday, Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov
expressed willingness to work in close cooperation with Turkey in revealing all links between terrorists active
in Chechnya and “to learn more about those who have been killed in Chechnya”. (i) S. Ivanov also stated that
Russia is considering declaring the Kurdistan Workers Party as a terrorist organisation at the request of
Turkey. (Interfax, RIAN, Kommersant, Novye Izvestia)
- Chechen law-enforcement agencies
checking compensation payments: Kommersant and Rossiyskaya gazeta today report that Chechen First Prime Minister
Ramzan Kadyrov was appointed head of the governmental commission on compensation payments. According to the
dailies, Chechnya’s law-enforcement agencies have started checking the legacy of compensation payments for the
destroyed housing. (Kommersant, RG)
10 december 2004
- Gas pipeline blown
up in Dagestan: Several leading dailies carry front-page articles reporting on an explosion of a gas pipeline in
Dagestan, in which 22 people were injured. Gazeta highlights that it was the fifth in a series of similar
incidents on the Dagestani pipeline in the last two years. According to Izvestia, investigators have no doubt
that it was a terrorist attack. In the paper’s view, the date of the incident is another proof to the
investigators’ theory, as it was exactly ten years ago when Boris Yesltin signed an instruction on the
prevention of illegal armed formations’ activities in Chechnya [which preceded the start of the first Chechen
war] (All media).
- New Chechen Election Commission head elected: Ismail Baikhanov was
elected Chairman of the Chechen Election Commission yesterday. Although a lack of legal training was used as a
pretext for the replacement of the Commission’s former head, Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, it is apparent that the
reshuffling is linked to the upcoming Chechen parliamentary election, says Kommersant (Interfax, Kommersant).
- Pre-emptive strikes on Georgia’s Pankisi gorge being prepared?: Nezavisimaya gazeta cites its
sources in the Defence Ministry, according to which the Russian military are prepared to deal pre-emptive
strikes on Chechen terrorist bases in Georgia’s Pankisi gorge. The paper also refers to a recent statement by
Russian top military official in the North Caucasus, Ilya Shabalkin, who pointed to mass concentration of
Chechen militants in the gorge (Nezavisimaya gazeta).
20 december 2004
-
Chechen woman accused of terrorism to go on trial in Moscow: Several dailies report that the Moscow City Court
scheduled for 22 December an open hearing of the case of a Chechen woman, who is charged of organising a series
of terror attacks. (Interfax, Kommersant, Izvestia, Gazeta)
21 december 2004
- Putin, Schroeder discuss economic, trade ties: (i) President Putin arrived in Germany yesterday to
discuss bilateral economic and trade ties in the framework of the intergovernmental consultations in Hamburg and
Schleswig. The media quote Putin as having confirmed his readiness to discuss all issues with Chancellor
Schroeder, including the media situation in Russia and events in Ukraine. (ii) According to a source in the
Russian delegation accompanying President Putin, Germany has proposed deeper EU involvement in “normalising
economic and social aspects of life in the Caucasus, in particular the Chechen Republic”. (Interfax, RG,
Kommersant, Gazeta, Trud, MT)
22 december 2004
- Russia ready to cooperate
with foreign countries in rebuilding Chechnya: Visiting Germany yesterday, President Putin expressed a readiness
to cooperate with foreign countries in rebuilding the Chechen economy and underlined that he accepted the point
that “we should provide more information about events” in Chechnya. Switching to German, Putin stated that “we
have enough problems in this region” and that “we are ready to work very openly with our partners in Europe and
Germany”. He also argued that “the war in Chechnya ended three years ago”. (Interfax, NG, Novye Izvestia, Vremya
novostei, RG, MT)
- Belgian FM on EU-Russia relations: (i) Visiting Moscow yesterday, Belgian
Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht expressed hope that Russia and the EU agree next spring on road maps on the
creation of the four ‘common spaces’ and that both sides would come to an agreement over easing visa formalities
before the May summit in Moscow. (ii) The media report that Mr De Gucht reiterated his country’s position that
Chechen separatist envoy Akhmed Zakayev, who has received political asylum in the UK, would not be permitted to
travel to Belgium. (Interfax, Kommersant, MT)
- Czech humanitarian organisation denies links
with Chechen rebels: In a front-page article, Vremya novostei today quotes Marek Vozka, coordinator of the
humanitarian mission in the Northern Caucasus of the Czech NGO People in Need, as having stressed that the rebel
printing house and a cache with ammunition, which the Chechen authorities uncovered in the same building as the
organisation’s office in Grozny “came as a total surprise” for the mission. (Vremya novostei)
23 december 2004
- EC ready to take part in Chechen reconstruction, Commission’s
representative: (i) ITAR-TASS quotes Commission Spokeswoman, Emma Udwin, as having stressed at a briefing
yesterday in Brussels, that the European Commission is ready to take part in the reconstruction of Chechnya if
Russia assumes its own role in that process. The media recall that visiting Germany, President Putin expressed
readiness to discuss the problems of Chechnya with partners in Europe and cooperate in the reconstruction of
Chechnya. (ii) Following talks with Belgian Foreign Minister De Gucht yesterday in Moscow, Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov stressed that that Russia “would never reject aid in the reconstruction of Chechnya”. “If Western
partners are prepared to provide it”. (ITAR-TASS, Interfax)
- Alleged Chechen recruiter
trial: Several dailies report that the Moscow City Court yesterday started open hearings of the trial of Zara
Murtazaliyeva, a Chechen resident, who accused of recruiting female suicide bombers to carry out attacks in
Moscow. (Interfax, Kommersant, Izvestia, Gazeta, Vremya novostei, MT)
24 december 2004
- Putin’s press conference high in the news: All media report on the annual press conference
given by President Putin yesterday in the Kremlin, pointing out that the press conference lasted over 3 hours.
Putin answered 51 questions of the journalists ranging from the progress of administrative reform to foreign
policy issues: (...)
Putin recalled that there will be no army conscripts in Chechnya starting from 1
January 2005, and no Interior Ministry conscripts as of 1 January 2006.
- Qatar hands over
convicted Russians: Referring to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the media report that “Qatar agreed to the
Russian government’s request to hand over two Russian citizens to their country to serve the rest of their
prison sentences handed down by a Qatari court in a Russian prison”. The media recall that Qatar handed over the
two Russian intelligence officers, who were convicted of assassinating Chechen separatist leader Zelimkhan
Yandarbiyev in February 2004. Electronic media today report that the two Russians have already arrived in
Moscow. Some observers had predicted that the men would eventually be freed under a deal between the two
countries. Nikolai Klen, Vice-President of the International Union of Barristers, is quoted by Gazeta as arguing
that the move is “more a political than a legal act”, adding that “this is an issue of Russia’s relations with
the Arab states”. (All media)
28 december 2004
- Defence Minister: no
conscripts left in Chechnya: Addressing yesterday’s meeting of the government, Defence Minister Ivanov said that
there are no conscripts left in Chechnya, and contract servicemen make up 100% of Russian military personnel in
the republic (Interfax, Izvestia).
30 december 2004
- Ramzan Kadyrov named
Hero of Russia: President Putin has issued a decree awarding Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen Deputy PM and the son of
the late Chechen President, the Hero of Russia award “for courage and heroism in the line of duty” (Interfax,
Kommersant, Vremya novostei, Izvestia).
31 december 2004
- Moscow vetoes
OSCE’s border monitoring mission in Georgian-Russian border: Radio Liberty reports that the OSCE has failed to
reach agreement on continuing the monitoring of Georgia’s border with Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan, as
Russia has reportedly vetoed a draft agreement to extend the mandate for another six months. Russia also refused
to endorse the OSCE’s budget for next year, meaning that the organisation will have to limp along on emergency
funding until the crisis is resolved, reports Radio Liberty.
- Chechen President says 1994
federal troops entering in Chechnya was a mistake: Chechen President Alu Alkhanov says in a front-page interview
with Rossiyskaya gazeta that the entering of federal troops in Chechnya on 31 December 1994 was a mistake, as
the opposition to Dudayev at the moment was gaining considerable momentum, and he would have lost a new
election. However, the entering of the federal troops made Dudayev a consolidating figure for Chechens, Alkhanov
says (Rossiyskaya gazeta).