"We Are Ready For Talks, We Are Ready For Peace"

My translation of a recent article and interview with Maskhadov's son, in the Western-oriented Russian daily Novaya Gazeta:

28 October 2004

http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/80n/n80n-s04.shtml


WHAT MASKHADOV IS OFFERING


In order to stop the war there must be talks, even with one’s enemies


Anzor, Aslan Maskhadov’s son, is about 28 years old. He fought in the first Chechen campaign, and was wounded. On becoming president, his father sent him to study in Malaysia.
A few years ago, at his father’s request, Maskhadov Junior moved back “closer to the borders of Russia.”
After the events in Beslan, Abdurashid Saidov, a Moscow doctor who is a native of Dagestan, met and interviewed Anzor Maskhadov.
In Anzor Maskhadov’s replies there are many contradictions. He maintains that the whole of the Chechen resistance obeys his father, Aslan Maskhadov, but says at the same time that many Chechens, who have lost their nearest and dearest as a result of the actions of the Federal forces, carry out terrorist acts independently of Maskhadov, and obtain revenge as best they can. This also applies to Shamil Basayev…
Anzor says that the terrorist acts in the Theatre Centre at Dubrovka and at Beslan have no direct relation to the activity of Aslan Maskhadov. But after all, these terrorist acts were not carried out by lone individuals. They involved the mobilization of several dozens of people. So does this mean either that Aslan Maskhadov really does not control the whole of the Chechen resistance, or that he is playing the role of the more “humane terrorist”, using the actions of the “cruel terrorist” Basayev for his own purposes? It is also very complex and confused. While condemning the actions of the extremists in the face of world public opinion, Maskhadov also awarded them the highest military orders in the state of Ichkeria.
Maskhadov’s latest announcement – that he will hand Basayev over to a Sharia court after the ending of the war with Russia – looks very strange.
Anzor Maskhadov asserts that his father was ready to come to Beslan and free all the hostages. In order to bring this about, Aslan Maskhadov had more than 48 hours at his disposal. What stood in his way? This must be ascertained.
I can believe that Anzor Maskhadov prayed to Allah for the salvation of the children of Beslan. Alas, this proved insufficient to avert the tragedy.
Nonetheless, we consider it necessary to publish this interview. Even if only because all peace begins with talks, attempts to force oneself to listen, even to one’s enemies.

Major Vyacheslav Izmailov, military columnist for Novaya Gazeta.




_________________________


Soon after the tragedy in the town of Beslan I met with Aslan Maskhadov’s son Anzor.

“Anzor, for several years now you have been observing what is taking place between Chechnya and Russia. What would you say about what has been happening?”

“Before I go on, I would like to say a few words about what happened in Beslan. A large number of children were killed there. I would like, in my own name, in the name of my father, and of the whole Chechen people, to offer my condolences to all who suffered, and to the families of those who were killed. This barbaric, incomprehensible war has been going on for six years – people are dying on both sides. Soldiers, contract soldiers, resistance fighters, peaceful inhabitants. For six years the Chechens alone have been blamed for this war. Russians are being told that President Aslan Maskhadov sent those people to seize the school. That is not true.”

“Then who did?”

“There are forces that are under Maskhadov’s control – they are the Chechen resistance. They all obey the president as their leader, their commander in chief. There exists an opinion that these forces are divided, that they are at odds with one another. This is not so. There are groups that are not under Maskhadov’s control. Someone’s father, mother, sisters, brothers may have been killed – the person was left alone. Who can control him? And people like him gather others who are like him or have sympathy with him and start to act according to their own thinking. And this is a result of a six-year war that is continuing today. Unfortunately, if the methods of normalization in the Caucasus remain unchanged, the numbers of such kamikazes will grow. Yet this is hardly surprising: the people have been brought to such a state. For the sixth year running, the Chechen president is offering to halt the bloodshed. He is not listened to. If the representatives would raise one question: ‘A cease fire. Everything else afterwards and according to the progress of negotiations.’ But no, they don’t do that. “

“Let us return to the question: is a ceasefire on Maskhadov’s orders a realistic possibility? We are talking about the present day and the Chechen side of the conflict.”

“Of course, yes. If the president gives the order for a ceasefire, everyone will obey it. Including the forces that are not under his control. After all, those who came to take part in “Nord-Ost” were precisely those who had left Maskhadov’s control, those who called themselves avengers, shakhids. But they had also come with the demand that the war be stopped! Some of them did not even take their revenge – what was preventing them from blowing that auditorium sky high, together with all the hostages? Yes, there are different opinions, there are different views, methods of combat and resolution of problems in each of the participants in this conflict on the Chechen side. But the question of as ceasefire, the question of the killings, of both Russians and Chechens – on that all are united, and so an order from Maskhadov will be enough.”

“Let us go back to the Beslan tragedy. What was Maskhadov doing during and after the tragedy?”

“Of course, there was the expression of condolences with the Ossetian people, with the president of Ossetia. The statement said that we condemn terror, that what had happened in Beslan had nothing to do with the Chechen resistance movement. In the last three documents there was also an address to the Chechen people.
“I would like to make one further clarification about the events at Beslan. A few minutes before the storming of the school there was an agreement between several highly-placed persons that Maskhadov would come to Beslan and try to free the hostages. We are not talking about 20 or 30 people, but about the freeing of every single one of the hostages. And he could have done this, but the Russian side was unwilling.
“We did not and do not want to wage war, even though the Russian media have made us into bandits, terrorists, bloodthirsty monsters. Everyone shuns us. We are human beings too, just like everyone else on this planet. We want to live in peace, in harmony with everyone. It would be better if our opinion was heeded – after all, we have been offering peace for 6 years.”

“It’s easy to say ‘we want peace’. But for the Russian reader it’s straightforward: Chechnya started the war in August 1999.”

“If you believe the propaganda, yes. But the truth lies somewhere else. Some groups in Dagestan, with other Dagestanis who arrived from Chechnya, led by their Bagaudin, began a revolt. They proposed absurd aims and missions, all the way to the subjection of the entire Caucasus – from the Caspian to the Black Sea. When they came up against a natural and inevitable confrontation with the Russian army, they turned to their equivalents in Chechnya – to Khattab, Basayev. I mean, they didn’t ask Maskhadov for support, did they? At that time I was at my father’s side. I remember how angry he was. He contacted the authorities in Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Northern Ossetia – all the leaders of the North Caucasus republics – and asked them to unite in the struggle against the radicals, and to put an end to sorties of this kind together, by concerted efforts.
“Maskhadov condemned Shamil Basayev’s invasion of the Botlikh region of Dagestan even before Russia had started calling Basayev a terrorist. But those who did not want to hear this did not hear it. Just before the invasion of Dagestan there were several attempts on Maskhadov’s life. At the Chechen public prosecutor’s office there were suspicions that the people responsible for these attempts were the same as those who invaded Dagestan. Could such people obey or subordinate themselves to Maskhadov? The scenario was written, it remained to be acted out. But the most surprising thing then was the fact of Basayev’s return to Chechnya. The people were ready to block his way, the people were ready to dispose of him. He was cursed by all. But by the time he made his return, bombardments of civilian areas of Chechnya, especially urban areas, had already begun, and we realized that another war with Russia was imminent. We had to think about self-defence. I emphasize once again: Maskhadov condemned the actions of those who invaded Dagestan, he contacted the leaders of the neighbouring republics, offered to meet them in Makhachkala, Nalchik, Nazran – anywhere they wanted – in order to discuss the situation that had been created.”

“Anzor, did your father have any direct contact with the president of Russia at that period?”
“Yes, of course. He was able to contact Yeltsin. There were repeated requests concerning the need for a meeting to discuss the issues that affected the Russian national interest. But around Yeltsin there were people who would not allow the president to meet the leader of Chechnya – this started in the Khasavyurt period. They made the situation worse, and blocked Yeltsin. Even before August 1999 there were many undecided questions, and the two leaders had plenty to talk about, including strategic problems for Russia that concerned its security.
“As for Beslan, half an hour after the start of the assault, all the relatives of my father and mother were bundled into helicopters and taken out of the Nadterechny district to Khankala. In the first Chechen war my uncle, my father’s brother, was also seized and forced to make an appeal to Maskhadov to lay down arms and cease resistance. It’s possible that they want to make some kind of ultimatum, as they did with Magomed Khambiev. (From 1994 to 2004 Magomed Khambiev was Aslan Maskhadov’s closest associate. From 1998 to 2004 he fulfilled the duties of Minister of Defence in Maskhadov’s Ichkeria. After Magomed Khambiev’s closest relatives were detained in the spring of this year, he went over to the side of Akhmat-Khadzhi and Ramzan Kadyrov. – A.S.) But only the people in the Kremlin can stop the war. Even the physical removal of the leaders will only put off the problem for decades, it will not bring peace.
“I repeat my father’s words, which he conveyed to me: “We are ready for talks, we are ready for peace.”

Abdurashid Saidov
28.10.2004