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Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - februari 2008

1 februari 2008


- Chechnya President declares ‘complete victory’ over militants: In a front-page article, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports on latest statements by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov who declared that militants in Chechnya “have been utterly defeated”. Kadyrov put the number of remaining members of illegal armed groups in Chechnya at 60-70, saying that “they are still hiding in the mountains”. (NG)


4 februari 2008


-Developments in N. Caucasus: (i) Law enforcement agencies yesterday declared the completion of a counter-terrorist operation launched in Ingushetia on 25 January due to a threat of terror attacks. (ii) Two policemen were killed and several others wounded in a clash with militants on Saturday in Chechnya. (Interfax, NG, Novye Izvestia, VN)


5 februari 2008


-Putin visits Dagestan: The press reports on the visit by President Vladimir Putin yesterday to Dagestan where he met with servicemen from a mountain brigade in the Botlikh district and discussed economic issues with local officials. Media recall that Botlikh was the site of armed incursions by Islamic militants from Chechnya in August 1999, and that Putin also visited Botlikh in 1999 when he was Prime Minister. (Gazeta, Interfax, Izvestia, MT, RG, VN)


7 februari 2008


- Putin meets Interior Ministry leaders:At a meeting with Interior Ministry leaders yesterday in Moscow, President Putin described nationalism, xenophobia and ethnic hatred as “a time bomb under Russia’s sovereignty”. Addressing the situation in the Northern Caucasus, Putin stressed the need to resolve economic and social issues in the region, adding that “the fight against terrorism and extremism remains a priority”. Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev estimated the number of militants in Chechnya at up to 440. The press highlights Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev’s statement to step up efforts in the fight against corruption. (Gazeta, Interfax, Izvestia, NG, RG, RIAN, Vedomosti, VN)


- Chechen HR researcher warns of Islamic extremism: The Moscow Times cites Chechen human rights researcher Usam Baisayev, who has warned in his lecture in Washington last month at the National Endowment for Democracy that militant Islamic ideology is gaining currency in Chechnya and broadening its appeal elsewhere in the Northern Caucasus. (MT)


11 februari 2008


- Officer gets suspended sentence over Chechen woman’s death: The Grozny garrison military court has given a three-year suspended sentence to Alexei Korgun, Interior Troops officer, on negligence charges for ordering fire on three Chechen women, one of whom was shot dead. Korgun told the court that he had taken the women for militants and pleaded guilty. (Kommersant, Novye Izvestia)


13 februari 2008


- FSB officer killed in Dagestan shootout: (i) A Federal Security Service (FSB) officer and three suspected militants were killed in a shootout between police and militants yesterday in Dagestan. Three other policemen were wounded during the skirmish. (ii) Kommersant reports on the killing in Ingushetia of an Arab mercenary suspected of being an Al-Qaeda representative in the Northern Caucasus. (NG, MT, Kommersant)


- Kommersantpublishes an interview with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby, which addresses both the situation in the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and in Kosovo. Mr Semneby notably stressed that “there are more differences between those conflicts than likeness”.


21 februari 2008


- ChechnyaPresident calls for new amnesty for former guerrillas: Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has called on the Russian leadership to amnesty people who committed crimes during the counter-terrorist operation in the Northern Caucasus. He mentioned in this context “young people, aged between 18 and 30, who continue to serve their terms for crimes on charges of ‘participation in illegal armed groups’”. (Interfax, RG, VN)


22 februari 2008


- Number of militants in Chechnya reduces almost fourfold — official: In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev said that over the past five years the number of militants in Chechnya has reduced almost fourfold: from 1,600 militants to 440. (RG)

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