Russia accuses Britain of weakening anti-terror fight

Russia’s foreign minister pointed an accusing finger at Britain today for exercising double standards by granting asylum to Chechen separatists.

Sergey Lavrov said the moves weaken global anti-terror efforts.

His comments, in a Moscow newspaper interview, reflected long-time Russian anger over what Moscow sees as the West’s receptiveness to Chechen militants accused of a string of recent terrorist attacks.

The Kremlin instead contends that the militants are trained and supported by international terrorist groups, like al-Qaida.

“Granting asylum to people involved in terrorism – and Russia has documented evidence of this – not only causes us regret but also effectively undermines the unity of the anti-terrorist coalition,” Lavrov said.

Russian officials have been particularly angered by Britain’s granting of asylum to Akhmed Zakayev, an envoy for Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, and the US granting of asylum to Ilyas Akhmadov, who was foreign minister under Maskhadov during Chechnya’s de-facto independence in the late 1990s.

“It is enough to recall Akhmed Zakayev’s statement made from London, in which he plainly and bluntly and without any intricacies blamed what happened in Beslan on the Russian leadership. I believe the cynicism of this statement is clear to everybody,” Lavrov said.

“We are far from accusing the leaders of major countries … of deliberately preserving this double standard,” he said. “But the inertia is still very strong.”

The attacks – the downing of two airliners apparently by explosions, a suicide bombing outside a Moscow underground station and last week’s school siege - prompted officials to offer €8.8m for information leading to the killing or capture of top Chechen rebel leaders and a pledge to go after terrorists all over the world.

Russia consistently brushes off criticism that its policies in Chechnya and the brutality of its troops there feed resentment that boosts support for rebels waging a five-year insurgency.