| http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_8333150.asp Svenska Dagbladet Published 22 October 2004 05:30 [Swedish] MFA "doing Putin's bidding" The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being criticized for "doing Putin's bidding" after it backed out of a conference on Chechnya – three days after Russia declined to take part. But the Ministry rejects the criticism and says that a meeting is not a priority. Next Saturday the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association (Svenska Freds- och Skiljedomsförening, SFS) is arranging a conference on the theme "Chechnya – Paths to Peace". As representatives of the organization pointed out in yesterday's op-ed article in Svenska Dagbladet, in August the MFA agreed to take part in the conference. When the news that Umar Khanbiev, one of the representatives of exiled president Aslan Maskhadov, would be participating, representatives of the Russian Embassy said that they could not take part for political reasons. "Since Russia considers Maskhadov a terrorist this was not wholly unexpected. But when three days later the MFA backs out, the only interpretation I can put on it is that they're afraid of getting into conflict with Putin," says chairwoman Frida Blom. MFA official Hans Magnusson thinks, however, that the MFA is not allowing itself to be influenced. "We agreed to take part in the conference long ago, when we thought we could attend. But our representative has been prevented from going for family reasons." Is there no one else who could attend instead? "Unfortunately we don't have very many people who can handle the issue." According to Frida Blom, the SFS has also tried to set up a meeting between the MFA and Khanbiev. "But even though we've been flexible about dates, there is no interest at the MFA. That's a pity, as the meeting would send signals that the Maskhadov government has a role to play in the political solution of the Chechnya problem." Hans Magnusson says that the MFA itself decides whom it will meet. "We are quite restrictive about meeting unofficial representatives. In this case we judged that we already have enough information about developments in Chechnya." The Chechen terrorist act at a school in Beslan in North Ossetia earlier this autumn kindled discussions about the long drawn out conflict in Chechnya. The Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was elected president of Chechnya in 1997, and is seen by many around the world as Moscow's only conceivable negotiating partner if peace negotiations are reopened. Anna Careborg 08-13 53 12 anna.careborg@svd.se |