Posted on 02/04/2005 12:07:43 AM PST by ambrose
Warlord warns of more terror in Russia
February 4, 2005 - 3:14PM
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for last year's brutal terrorist attack on a Russian school, said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that separatist rebels were planning more such operations.
In an interview with Britain's independent Channel 4 News, Basayev expressed regret for the hundreds of deaths in the September hostage-taking attack on a school in the Russian town of Beslan, but blamed Russian forces who stormed the school for the carnage.
"We're not exactly delighted by what happened in Beslan," he said. "To be honest I'm even shocked by what happened there and I'm still in a state of shock. I didn't expect such cruelty."
More than 1,000 hostages were taken in the school attack, which ended with the deaths of more than 330 people, many of them children.
Basayev said the school siege had originally been planned for Moscow or St Petersburg. "But we ran out of money."
"We are planning Beslan-type operations in the future because we are forced to do so," said Basayev, who was shown wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the word "anti-terror" in Cyrillic lettering and cradling a grenade launcher in his lap.
"Today our citizens are disappearing. Our girls disappear without a trace. They can take anyone. In order to stop this chaos we have to respond in the same way."
Channel 4 said it had sent Basayev a list of questions and after four months received instructions to pick up a package containing video CDs in an undisclosed Middle Eastern city.
It said the video appeared to have been recorded about three weeks ago.
Russia's Foreign Ministry sharply criticised Channel 4 for the interview, calling it "information support of terrorists".
It said the broadcast would be an "irresponsible step in disseminating to a wide viewership the views and threats of a bandit who is being searched for through Interpol and who is on the list of the counter-terrorist committee of the United Nations' Security Council".
Channel 4 defended the interview.
"We recognise, of course, that Shamil Basayev's views will be regarded worldwide as repugnant, but we reject utterly any notion that we are being irresponsible. It is simply not the case that the running of such material can be equated with condoning it," the network said in a statement.
In another development, the Interfax news agency said there were reports that Basayev had been killed. However, Basayev has frequently been reported to have been killed in the past - only to surface and claim responsibility for terrorist acts.
Russian authorities did not react to that report, but they quickly dismissed as unreliable a posting on a Web site linked to Chechnya's rebels saying Basayev had ordered all rebels under his command to halt attacks in Chechnya and Russia until February 22.
In the video, Basayev said he was willing to call a ceasefire and open negotiations with the Russians, but only after the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya.
"If the Russians withdraw their troops and cease the genocide of our people, I'm ready to stand before a court and I'll accept any decision of the court with due deference," he said.
Chechnya has been shattered by two separatist conflicts over the past decade. A 20-month war ended in 1996 with the withdrawal of Russian troops after rebels fought them to a standstill. That was followed by a period of de facto independence.
In 1999, after Chechnya-based rebels made an incursion into neighbouring Dagestan, Russian forces returned to Chechnya, taking firm control of the northern part of the republic. But they have been unable to purge rebels from the capital Grozny or mountainous southern regions, and rebel attacks and clashes with Russian soldiers are reported frequently.
The Kremlin has firmly rejected international calls for negotiations with the rebels.
It's funny how the press still refers to those bastards as "rebels."
Damn, that Islamist Basayev is still alive. Days ago, there were rumors that he was dead but with the interviews in recent days, it seems the rumors were wrong. Without that bastard dead, democracy in Chechenya could not be implemented yet.
Ping
As I thought, when I saw the 'cease fire' thread posted last night: Out of money &/or ammo, so like good like muzzies, cry cease fire to rest & reequip.
Now is the time to redouble pressure on them, rather than play their little game.
Can someone say "mixed messages?"
Ping.
Can someone say "mixed messages?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maybe he can't read and we had a mole taking the photo.
LOL
Lets hope he can't read the size on the bullet box and it
blows up.
With all the arrests still going on there, one has to wonder
how they got the locals to help at the school, but it was
not the target.
The only things they are rebelling against now are the mass-murder of theire people and crimes on humanity done by russian forces. Rebells earlier installed democracy and freedom in Chechnya, but russian forces answered by bombing theire capitol Grosny and killing an unknown number of innocents.
It's on russia to stop terror, not on Chechnya.
Perhaps the shirt actually said: "Kill me, I'm a terrorist."
Ignorance does not delete the facts.
It was the Chechens who messed things up. They had gained their independence by the mid-90s after basically forcing the Russians out.
But were the Chechens satisfied? No. They attacked Dagestan, took over a hospital, and started killing patients. Oh, and this was the time the Chechen 'rebels' (rebels - please!) took on the Wahhabi branch of Islam, had liaisons with Al Queda backed Jihadis, and tried to convert Dagestan into an Islamic republic. Russia had to step in.
By the way, you say it is up Russia to stop the terror. Well, tell me how they are supposed to stop terrorists (or do you want me to call them rebels) from hijacking planes and blowing them up? How are they supposed to stop Chechen women from strapping explosives and boarding trains? How are they supposed to stop Chechens from taking a school hostage, forcing children to drink their own urine to survive, and lacing the entire gymnasium with explosives? How are they supposed to prevent a theater from being taken over (and i am sure that you will say it was the Russian's fault for storming in - but you would be surprised to know that most Western forces agreed that the Russians basically had a choice of saving hundreds by losing hundreds, or saving none by waiting and doing nothing. Those terrorists did not take that theater in order to surrender. That was a suicide mission).
What is Russia supposed to do? Appease the Chechens? Well, the Chechens got their chance in the mid-90s. But they squandered it by taking on Wahhabism and trying to storm Dagestan. Love or hate the Russians, but Russia really had no choice in this particular matter.
By the way, i see you joined FR yesterday. Welcome to FreeRepublic ......maybe you might want to rush back to DU website now, troll.
Chechen Warloard????...how about Chechen slaughter commander?
Unfortunately, they used the ensuing three years to empower Islamic fanatics like Shamil Basayev and Aslan Mashkadov, instead of building a functional, pluralistic, democratic republic.
:)
He like a cockroach also come back
I just hope one of these days Russians get lucky just blow him off the face of the earth
they need to turn this guy over to some old style commanches and apaches when they catch him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.