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U.S. Aid Worker In Chechnya Free
MOSCOW, Feb 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. aid worker Kenny Gluck was dramatically freed Sunday after a night-time raid by Russian special agents ended his 26-day ordeal at the hands of kidnappers without paying a ransom.
Russian security service officers staked out the kidnappers' hideaway before launching late Saturday a rescue operation that freed Gluck without sustaining any casualties on the federal side, officials said.
Gluck, 38, a volunteer for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), told reporters he had been well treated by his captors during the month-long ordeal since his abduction in Stariye Atagi on January 9th.
"I am feeling fine in myself. Very happy to be no longer a prisoner. My health is good. My captors treated me reasonably well," Gluck said in comments broadcast on the private NTV television channel.
"They didn't beat me and for now I am just happy that I am going home," he added, speaking in Russian.
Gluck had already spoken to his family in the United States by telephone from the Khankala base, from where he had made another call to MSF colleagues at Nazran in Ingushetia.
But the freed worker dismissed suggestions that his kidnapping might have long-term consequences for the aid effort Caucasus, with rumors of many international organizations mulling a permanent withdrawal.
"I think MSF will try to continue to help as much as we can, and I see no reason to oppose that, but in any case the decision is not up to me," he said.
The aid worker was freed during the night in a special operation carried out by Russian security services (FSB, formerly KGB) near the war-torn republic's capital Grozny, FSB chief spokesman Alexander Zdanovich said.
Russian agents had located the place in Stariye Atagi where Gluck was being held captive several days ago and had painstakingly staked out the area, Zdanovich said.
The rescue operation had been accomplished without the FSB sustaining any losses or a ransom being paid, said the security services spokesman, who added: "And, what's more, not a shot was fired."
Gluck's MSF colleagues greeted news of the successful rescue operation with a mixture of joy and relief that the organization's mission head in the Caucasus was out of danger.
"Obviously everyone at MSF is very pleased that Kenny has been released. We had a short telephone discussion this afternoon with him and we're looking forward to seeing him safely back with us," the aid charity's spokeswoman Kris Torgeson said.
Head of the Nobel prize-winning medical relief charity in the Caucasus, Gluck was snatched by suspected Chechen separatists while traveling in a four-car convoy.
However, the U.S. embassy in Moscow warned against premature rejoicing and urged caution even after the interviews with Gluck had been broadcast on Russian television.
"We're watching the reports and we're monitoring the situation. If it's true and he is indeed out, then of course it's good news and we're very happy," a U.S. embassy spokesman said.
"The next logical thing will be to make sure he gets safely out of the situation he's in and back home, and we'll work to get him back to his family and the United States," he added.
U.S. embassy hesitancy concerning Gluck's kidnapping and release, supposedly by Chechen separatists, may mark the station's understanding of events in Russia concerning kidnappings in the region.
Last year, a leading Russian journalist critical of Moscow's military campaign in Chechnya, was allegedly kidnapped by Chechen separatists. Reports indicate that the Russians, who blamed the kidnapping on Chechens, may have actually held the journalist.
The reporter was later released and maintains that his kidnappers were not Chechen separatists.
Zdanovich said that Gluck would be taken to Nazran in Ingushetia on Monday, if weather permits, where the MSF mission is based.
His family told the kidnappers to release Gluck who suffers from a chronic asthma problem and would not have been able to endure a long-drawn period of captivity, relatives said.
"Kenny has had severe asthma for years, requiring permanent medical supervision. He has to carry three or four medications to prevent an asthma attack," Daniel Gluck told journalists in New York last month.
Gluck's abduction had spread alarm through the international aid community working in the troubled Caucasus region, with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations suspending humanitarian operations there.
However, Moscow charged that MSF was itself responsible for the kidnapping because it had failed to supply the authorities with details of convoys.
Russian troops and tanks poured into Chechnya on October 1, 1999, to crack down on separatists, but Moscow has been unable to wipe out activity in the Caucasus republic since retaking the capital Grozny last February.
Kidnappings of journalists, aid workers and other foreigners have been widespread in the breakaway Russian province since the outbreak of the first, 1994-1996 Chechen war.
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