British premier Tony Blair vowed on Wednesday to raise Chechnya with Vladimir Putin next week as concern mounts over alleged human rights abuses by Russian troops in the war-torn republic.

But Blair stressed that during Putin's four-day visit to Britain he would also express sympathy for Russian victims of extremist violence planned by Chechen separatists.[1] "I hope we can agree both on the need for human rights but also on the need for a complete end to any form of terrorism emanating from Chechnya [2]," he told the parliament. Blair and other Western leaders have been criticized by human rights groups for seeking to keep Putin sweet by turning a blind eye to abuses in the region on Russia's southern flank, where its troops have been fighting separatists for a decade. Western nations toned down allegations of abuse by the Russian military after Moscow backed the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign following the September 11 attacks. "I always raise Chechnya with President Putin [3], but I do so in a way that also recognizes this point, that as a result of terrorism coming out from extremists based in Chechnya, the Russian people have also suffered a great deal," Blair said. "And it's worth just pointing out that when we finally won the conflict in Iraq, some of those people that were still offering resistance were in fact from Chechnya, extremists who were based there, [4]" he added. Amnesty International said it was "relieved" Blair would raise Chechnya with Putin, but urged him to also ensure the issue won more international attention. "We want him to bring up human rights violations in Chechnya as part of a concerted effort to get it on the international agenda where it clearly isn't at the moment," Amnesty spokesman Neil Durkin said. "There's been too much violence."

Another issue sure to figure on Blair and Putin's agenda is the case of Akhmed Zakayev. Russia accuses him of murder, torture and masterminding terror attacks, and wants him extradited. But Zakayev's lawyers are arguing in a London court that he risks torture and possible death if sent to stand trial in Russia.

Reuters [18.06.2003 21:00]

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Comment:

[1] After almost four years we are still waiting for Tony Blair's expressions of sympathy for the 150.000 "Chechen victims of extremist violence planned by Russian forces and death squads."

[2] Blair knows that this is a lie: exactly as the arms of mass destruction in Iraq and the Al Qaeda connection with Saddam there is no evidence that there isn't so far any evidence that "terrorism emanating from Chechnya".

[3] This is another lie: there is nothing that supports the hypothesis that he has ever done this seriously in the last four years. On the contrary he obediently followed Putin orders to arrest Zakayev, Maskhadov's envoy in Europe.

[4] Another lie again: There is no evidence so far of any extremists based in Iraq.

Evidently Mr. Blair continues the same policy of lies he sponsored with regards to the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. M.M