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Russia Bids To Ease Concerns Over Chechnya
MOSCOW, Jan 25 (News Agencies) - Russia bid Thursday to allay Western concerns about its clampdown in Chechnya by announcing a massive reconstruction program and offering to discuss the conflict with the new U.S. administration.
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov hinted at "direct talks" on Chechnya with President George W. Bush's incoming team.
Ivanov said Russia had "not yet had an opportunity to discuss its actions in Chechnya with the new American administration," Interfax reported.
"As soon as a direct dialogue is established - and we hope that will be in the very near future - we will be able to discuss our position on this and other questions."
Until now, Russia has rejected Western criticism of its self-styled "anti-terrorist" operation against Islamic separatists in Chechnya, arguing its campaign was "an internal affair."
Yet Ivanov unexpectedly hinted that Chechnya would be high on the agenda when Russian officials sat down with the new Bush team, which has threatened to cut off aid to Russia for failing to get its house in order.
"The solution can only be a political one, the Russian government does not conceive of any other way of resolving the Chechen problem," he told a news conference.
Russia has unveiled a number of policy initiatives in recent days aimed at persuading the West that it was restoring order to Chechnya despite the ongoing violence in the republic.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announced a $515 million Chechnya reconstruction package, amounting to almost double last year's $279 million.
The newly appointed head of the Chechen government, Stanislav Ilyasov, said the sum included 1.0 billion rubles ($35.7 million) for rebuilding homes, 1.1 billion rubles for the payment of pensions, 823 million rubles for education and 780 million rubles to be spent on health.
"The number one priority is the reconstruction of the residences destroyed [by the Russian bombardments]. The important thing is that the refugees can leave their camps and return to live in the republic," he said.
According to President Vladimir Putin's permanent envoy to Chechnya, Shamil Beno, more than 200,000 Chechens have been displaced internally within the mountainous republic, and between 280,000 and 320,000 others have fled to neighboring republics.
Ilyasov, who was appointed prime minister on January 18th as Putin prepared to announce a partial troop withdrawal from Chechnya, said the program would also prioritize job creation in a situation where the majority of the population is unemployed.
The overall cost of reconstruction in Chechnya would cost some $1.4 billion, he said.
Ilyasov said he hoped a full Chechen administration would be formed within a month.
Meanwhile, Russian defense ministry sources quoted by ITAR-TASS said the run-down of Russian forces in Chechnya could start next month, nearly a year and a half after Moscow poured troops into the republic on October 1, 1999.
"A withdrawal of units of the Russian armed forces not attached to the North Caucasian Military District may begin in February," the sources said.
On Friday last week Russia's military command said it had begun to withdraw troops from Chechnya following an order by Putin to make limited troop reductions.
And on Monday, Putin said he was switching command of the "anti-terrorist" operation from the military to the security services (FSB, formerly KGB) in a move towards normalization.
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