"I did not ask for political asylum in London," Zakayev

LONDON, December 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev, who is wanted by Russia on alleged terrorism charges, was in London on Friday, December 6, where he was arrested at Moscow's request only four days after his release from jail in Denmark.

One of Zakayev's supporters told a Moscow radio station that Zakayev was seeking political asylum in Britain but the envoy denied the report.

"I did not ask for political asylum in London," Zakayev told Agence France-Presse (AFP) over the phone from the British capital.

Zakayev, 43, a top aide to Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov, was arrested on his arrival at London's Heathrow airport Thursday night, then released on bail pending a court appearance, the Home Office said.

"We can confirm that at Russia's request Akhmed Zakayev was provisionally arrested when he arrived pending receipt of a formal request for his extradition," a Home Office spokeswoman told AFP.

Russia has 40 days to formally submit an extradition request, the spokeswoman said.

But she declined to comment on whether Zakayev had applied for asylum, saying: "We don't talk about individual asylum cases".

The Chechen envoy was released by Denmark on Tuesday, December 3, following 34 days in custody there after the authorities said they had found no evidence to back Russian terrorism accusations against him.

He had been arrested as he took part in a Chechen congress in Copenhagen, in the wake of the Moscow hostage-taking operation by a group of Chechen fighters in October.

The decision to free him triggered an angry Russian reaction that has served to heighten already tense relations between Moscow and Copenhagen.

In Portugal where he was attending a meeting of the OSCE pan-European security body, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov sharply criticized London for allowing Zakayev to enter the country and compared him to Osama bin Laden.

Moscow issued an international arrest warrant against Zakayev in October, with Russian authorities alleging that the 43-year-old had been involved in various terrorist acts in the late 1990s.

Zakayev had been expected to leave Denmark voluntarily because his visa had lapsed.

Alexander Goldfarb, head of the Fund of Civil Freedoms that supported Zakayev throughout the crisis, told Moscow Echo station that both Russia's extradition request and Zakayev's request for political asylum will be heard simultaneously by a British court.

The Chechen envoy is due to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London next Wednesday.

"Zakayev is relying on British justice, since he knows he is not guilty of any crimes," Goldfarb said.

He added that Zakayev now was on bail after a bond was paid by British actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave, although his Russian passport was confiscated meaning he cannot leave the country.

Redgrave told Britain's Sky News television: "I'm his friend, I'm his guarantor.

"There's a load of people who care about the Chechen situation and care that there should be peace for Chechen people and the same is true for Russian people."

Russia has accused Denmark, which is wrapping up its six-month turn at the rotating EU presidency, of political motives in refusing the extradition.

But a senior Council of Europe official visiting Moscow flatly dismissed the charges, laying the blame of Zakayev's release by Denmark on poor work, and evidence, provided by Russian prosecutors.

"If (Denmark's refusal) is a reproach, it is a reproach of the Russian prosecutors for providing insufficient evidence of the charges of which he (Zakayev) is accused," said Council of Europe deputy secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio.

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