Belgian Authorities Impede Talks Between Chechen Rebel Zakayev, Russian Soldiers' Mothers

Created: 22.11.2004 16:03 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:03 MSK,


MosNews


The Russian Committee of Soldiers' Mothers has still not received visas to Belgium on the eve of scheduled talks there with exiled Chechen separatist spokesman Akhmed Zakayev. Zakayev, who resides in the UK, is faced with deportation if he shows up on Belgium soil.

The committee, which declared itself a political party last week, is a human rights organization that helps conscripts in the Russian Army.

"Our group is faced with problems," the Committee's chairwoman, Valentina Melnikova, told the liberal Nezavisimaya Gazeta in an interview. "There are delays [at the Belgian embassy] in issuing our visas. So today we don't know whether we will fly out on Tuesday." She added that an official at the embassy told her they were told to inquire with the Interior Ministry of Belgium.

Meanwhile, she said, the Russian side also contacted Belgium regarding Zakayev, who Moscow has labeled a "terrorist" and has repeatedly asked for his extradition.

Zakayev would be detained and sent back to Britain if he accepts an invitation to come to Belgium to discuss the human rights situation in Russia, a Belgian minister told Reuters Sunday.

"He (Zakayev) has been recognized as a refugee in Great Britain. He is not allowed to enter the Schengen area. Great Britain is not a member of the Schengen (open borders area). If he enters our country then he has to be arrested and sent back to Great Britain," Belgian Interior Minister Patrick Dewael told VRT television.

However, while Melnikova has said that Zakayev has still not received his visa and that the Belgian side does not want to grant him one, a spokesman at the Belgian Interior Ministry told the Russian Information Agency Novosti that Zakayev has not even applied for a visa.

He told the news agency that he has heard nothing about Zakayev's request for a visa.

Melnikova, in her interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, declined to comment on what she will discuss with Zakayev, who is a spokesman for Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov. She only said that they will try to reach a consensus which she plans to present to the Russian people and the Russian government.