| A. Zakayev
expresses his complete disagreement with the activity of PACE on the
situation in Chechnya Minister in the ChRI Government Ahmed Zakayev has issued a statement in connection with the continuing attempts of PACE to initiate the work of a so-called "round table", in a form which the Chechen side considers unacceptable, and with the latest statements by Andreas Gross, in which Zakayev's name is mentioned. The statement reads in detail: "In connection with the situation created around the so-called "round table" on Chechnya in the framework of PACE, I find it necessary to state the following: Firstly: The Chechen side is principally in favour of a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Chechen conflict, and in connection with this it does not object to an attempt to discuss this problem for the purpose of solving it as quickly as possible; Secondly: A productive discussion implies at a minimum that the original reason for the conflict and its participants are established, something that has been completely ignored by PACE during the almost six-year-long period of the Russian-Chechen war; Thirdly: My meetings with the Special Rapporteur on Chechnya at PACE, Andreas Gross, did not indicate [our] agreement with the position of PACE on the Russian-Chechen war; to the contrary, they had the purpose to express [our] complete disagreement with everything that has been undertaken on Chechnya; Fourthly: By appeasing Russia on every possible occasion, PACE is contributing voluntarily or involuntarily to the continuation of violence in Chechnya and creating the illusion in the international community that some authoritative international institution is occupied with the search for a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Chechen conflict; Fifthly: The participation of the Chechen side in the "round table" announced by PACE is possible only as the official representatives of the legitimate government of the ChRI, which is a side in the Russian-Chechen conflict." Department of Political Information, Marsho.dk 01.05.2005. http://www.marsho.dk/news/first.htm [Translation by N.S.] |