 |
|
Zakayev
is staying at a secret location
|
COPENHAGEN,
December 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Top Chechen envoy Akhmed
Zakayev, sought by Russia on terrorism charges, claimed Wednesday to
have been held here as a “political hostage,” following Denmark’s
decision to free him and not extradite him to Moscow.
Zakayev,
envoy for rebel Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, was freed here
Tuesday after the Danish justice ministry cited a lack of evidence in
the case and shed doubt on witnesses supporting the Russian extradition
request, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Moscow
reacted angrily, with Russia’s justice minister denouncing the
decision as “political” and Russian officials vowing to appeal the
decision to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
Zakayev
was arrested on October 30 by Danish police acting on a Russian arrest
warrant, initially accusing him of involvement in October’s Moscow
theater siege and various other attacks by Chechen rebels in the late
1990s.
Zakayev
said after his release that the Danish government’s decision to arrest
him had been political.
“I
was held as a political hostage in a scandal between Russia and Denmark,”
he said in a statement published Wednesday in the Danish daily
newspaper, Politiken.
The
attitude of the Russian authorities had been “totally out of
proportion,” he added.
“The
Russian authorities provoked the Danish police by send an extradition
order and in linking me to terrorism,” he added.
Zakayev
stressed that he was not angry with the Danish authorities. “Denmark
is a society of laws, and according to the rules, the police had to
arrest me, because they had received an extradition demand and were
obliged to respond,” he said.
The
Danish government had also “sought to reduce the Russian pressure by
arresting me,” Zakayev said.
Zakayev
was staying at a secret location, the center-left Politiken
reported.
However,
Danish television showed the outside of a Copenhagen hotel where he was
thought to be staying.
The
Danish foreign ministry said that it had summoned the Russian ambassador
to explain its decision to release Zakayev.
The
release looks set to further sour relations between the two countries,
strained for over a month since Denmark
refused to ban a Chechen conference in the Danish capital at which
Zakayev was speaking.
Russian authorities
said last month they had handed Denmark
information allegedly linking Zakayev to the kidnapping of two Orthodox
priests in 1996, including one man who has denied having been abducted
by the top Chechen negotiator. 
|
|
Iraq:
-
U.S. Insists Iraq Hiding Weapons, Allies Reluctant to War
-
U.S. Military To “Play Out”
Iraq Scenarios in War Game
-
India, Russia Want Diplomacy to
Solve Iraq Crisis, Slam Pakistan
-
U.N. Experts Visit Nuclear Facility, Iraq Upset by Palace Visit
-
Britain Accused of Providing
Saddam Torture Instruments
-
Turkey Key Partner Against
Iraq: Pentagon Official
Palestine:
-
Israeli Massacre Turns Palestinians' Eid Into Nightmare
-
Israeli Army Kills Ten Palestinians, Wounds 20 in Gaza Strip
-
Palestinians Urge Berlin Not to Give Israel Armored Vehicles
-
Israeli Army Slammed for Killing 95-Yr.-Old Woman, Kills 2 Palestinians
-
International Press Highlights Israeli Atrocities Ahead of Eid
Eid Al-Fitr
-
Asia Marks End of Ramadan, Celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr
-
Bush Reaches Out to Muslims on Eid-ul-Fitr
-
Eid A
Festive Season for Indian Muslims
-
Eid al-Fitr Celebrated in Many
Countries From Thursday
-
Eid in Palestine Marred by Siege, Mourning, Recession
-
Chicago’s Kahk Lady Brings Sweet Eid Memories to Immigrants
-
Iraqis
Prepare for Eid Festivities Despite War Clouds
-
120,000 Police Personnel to Ensure Peaceful Eid in Indonesia
-
Indonesians Split on Eid Day, To Celebrate Dec. 5th & 6th
-
Malaysians, Singaporeans Gearing for Eid Celebrations
-
Chechen Envoy Faces Possible Extradition in London
-
Venezuelan Leader to Secure Oil Deliveries, Strike Continues
-
Malaysian Muslim Restaurants Boycotts Coca Cola
-
Turkey Presses For Talks Date Ahead of Key EU Summit
-
U.S. Questions
Pakistani Officials of Alleged Nuclear Links
-
Islam is A
Religion of Peace, Harmony: Delhi Seminar
-
Indonesia Expected
to Collect A Billion Dollars of Zakat Fitr
-
Australian Muslims Fear Being Target of Anti-Terror Laws
-
Southern Hemisphere Witnesses Total Solar Eclipse
-
U.S. Votes Against U.N. Resolution on Occupied East Jerusalem
-
Zakayev: I Was A “Political Hostage”
-
U.S. Soldier, Two Kuwaiti Coastguards Wounded in Vessel Collision
-
Chechen
War Reaches Moscow
-
World
Wide War
-
Invasion
into Gaza
-
Arafat
HQ Destroyed… In Pictures
-
Homeless in Minutes
-
War on Iraq.. World Reaction
|
|
|
|
|
|
