 |
|
Analysts don't think that Europe will make a big case out of
Chechnya
|
MOSCOW,
November 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The dramatic
hostage-taking at a Moscow theater succeeded in thrusting the Chechen
war back into the spotlight, but Europe and the United States are
unlikely to put pressure on Russia to solve the drawn-out conflict,
analysts say.
"Real
pressure for a political solution in Chechnya is not very likely from
the Europeans, and even less so from the Americans," Agence
France-Presse (AFP) quoted Dmitry Trenin of the Carnegie Center's Russia
office as saying.
European
calls for a political solution to the conflict, all but silenced after
the September 11 attacks and subsequent U.S.-led war on terror, have
slowly begun to appear once more.
"Aside
from the military path, a political solution is needed," NATO
Secretary General George Robertson said in an interview published
Friday, November 1, in Russian daily Vremya Novostei.
"The
scourge of terrorism brings Russia and NATO closer together, we're
united with Russia," Robertson said, following the dramatic
hostage-taking in Moscow that left 119 hostages dead, almost if not all,
by the gas Russian forces used in storming the building.
The
European Union has said that Russia accepted a German proposal that
Chechnya be put on the agenda for Russian-E.U. talks scheduled for
November 11, in Brussels.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin himself has said that he would like to see a
political solution to the bloody conflict, which modest official Russian
estimates say left at least 4,500 Russian soldiers and tens of thousands
of Chechen civilians dead.
However,
he has refused to negotiate with any of the Chechen leadership,
including its disavowed elected President Aslan Maskhadov.
Instead,
the Kremlin launched a targeted campaign to further discredit the
Chechen administration following the dramatic hostage-taking, beginning
with the arrest earlier this week in Denmark of top envoy Akhmed
Zakayev.
"Give
me the name of just one leader with whom we can negotiate - I don't know
any," the Kremlin's top aide on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky,
said Thursday, October 31.
Yet,
analysts seemed skeptical that Europe or the United States would push
strongly for a solution to the conflict.
"Europe
has already shown some weakness. The Danes went so far as to arrest
Akhmed Zakayev," Trenin said.
Danish
police, acting on a Russian arrest warrant, arrested Zakayev on
Wednesday, October 30, as he attended a conference on Chechnya in
Copenhagen, but have not agreed yet to extradite him.
Despite
sometimes intense criticism of the widespread human rights abuses
committed by Russian forces in Chechnya, Europe has sanctioned Russia
only once since it sent its troops into the southern republic in October
1999.
In
April 2000, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly stripped
Russia of its right to vote within the 41-nation human rights body,
citing human rights abuses against Chechen civilians.
Although
reports of abuses continued, the assembly reinstituted Russia's right to
vote less than one year later, in January 2001.
"I
don't think that Europe will make a big case out of Chechnya,"
independent political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky said.
"And
as long as the Americans need Moscow's support to adopt a new resolution
on Iraq, they will coddle Russia," he said.
Washington,
which has claimed that Chechen fighters hold ties with al-Qaeda, said
Thursday that it was considering placing a number of
independence-seeking groups on its blacklist of suspected terrorist
groups.
"The
Americans want to win the war against terror and they will block any
pressure on Russia," said analyst Eric Kraus of the Sovlink
investment bank.
Analyst
Viktor Kremenyuk was all the more skeptical, saying that Putin would
change his stance on Chechnya for just one reason and it would happen
"six months before the 2004 presidential election."
|
|
Georgia Delays Extradition of Chechens Despite Russian Pressure
U.S., Europe Unlikely To Press Russia On Chechnya: Analysts
Redgrave Leads Campaign for Detained Chechen Envoy
Russia Unveils Gas, Human Rights Watch Urge Independent Probe
Russia Arrests 30 Citizens for
Helping Chechen Fighters
Russia Demands Extradition of Chechen Envoy Held in Denmark
Bombs Damage Mosque, Railway Lines in South Africa, 1 Killed
Palestine:
Rabbi Who Calls for Segregation Accused Of
Sexual Harassment
Sharon Offers Netanyahu Top Diplomat Post in The New Gov’t
Palestinians Slam HRW Report Calling Bombers "War Criminals"
No Policy Change Foreseen Under
New Hardline Israeli Gov't: Analysts
British Lawyer Files War Crimes Suit Against Israel’s Defense Minister to Be
Sharon to Form Right-Wing Cabinet, Mofaz New Defense Minister
Israel Wounds 3 Palestinian Children, Demolishes 4 Homes
Iraq:
U.S. Continues Military Buildup As U.N. Edges Closer to Iraq Resolution
Russia Sees Iraq Resolution On Horizon, Inspectors To Have Office In Cyprus
Eastern Catholic patriarchs oppose strike on Iraq
Thousands of London Protesters Condemn War on Iraq
U.S. Deploys Stealth Bombers, Iraq Urges U.N. to Resist Pressure
U.S. Agrees To U.N. Debate on
Iraq Before Strike
Forty Million Turks To Head
For The Ballots
Students in Delhi protest
against U.S. refusal to ratify Kyoto Protocol
Israeli Protest over Egyptian
Series Continues, Writer Stands His Ground
Pakistani New Parliament Marks
End of Military Rule
Mufti Sayeed Sworn in As Kashmir Chief Minister While Rebels Attack His Home
U.S. Forces Training In Kuwait Face Fourth Shooting, No Injuries
Suspect Bayshir Tight-Lipped As Police Begin Questioning
17 Dead, Injured in Attack on Western Afghan Market
Turkey's Polls Put Electoral System in Question
Pakistan's Pro-Musharraf Party Names Candidate for PM
CIA Conspiracy in Bali to Achieve U.S. Agenda: MMI
|
|
|
|
|
|
