Chechen rebel chief announces truce

A Chechen rebel leader has told a Russian newspaper a unilateral ceasefire he had announced should help pave the way for peace talks with the Kremlin.

The truce had been holding since the beginning of February.

Last month, a rebel website carried statements by former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov and warlord Shamil Basayev ordering that all offensive actions be halted in February in Chechnya and bordering areas as “a display of goodwill”.

Maskhadov, president of Chechnya during its de-facto independence in the late 1990s, said he hoped for an “adequate reaction” from the Russian authorities and added that he had named a spokesman abroad, Umar Khambiyev, to head a delegation for talks with Moscow.

“If our Kremlin opponents display sober reason, the war will end at the negotiating table,” Maskhadov said. “If not, bloodshed will likely continue for a long time, but we will surrender moral responsibility for continuing this madness.”

Liliya Tengiyeva, a spokeswoman for Chechnya’s Interior Ministry, said that rebels appeared to be observing the ceasefire.

“During the last week, there have been no serious attacks, raids or terror attacks on the territory of the republic,” Tengiyeva said.

Federal officials have dismissed the calls as a bluff or publicity stunt, but daily reports issued by Russia’s headquarters for the campaign against militants in Chechnya and nearby regions also appeared to indicate that no rebel attacks had taken place in recent days.

Maskhadov has again sought to distance himself from Basayev, who has claimed responsibility for the September school hostage-taking, in which more than 330 people were killed, and numerous other terror attacks in Russia.

He said he would try to prevent Basayev from carrying out new attacks against civilians, and reaffirmed that Basayev should face an international tribunal for his actions once the war ends.

Russian officials accuse Maskhadov of involvement in most terror attacks, but they also say he has little power over militants in Chechnya.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected calls from abroad for peace talks with rebel leaders, saying they are international terrorists who must be eliminated.

The Kremlin sent troops into Chechnya in 1994 in a bid to crush its separatist leadership, but they withdrew after a devastating 20-month war that left the southern Russian region de facto independent.

Russian forces returned in 1999 following a rebel incursion into a neighbouring province.