The new Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Peter Schieder, received Alan Maskhadov's emissary Akhmed Zakayev at the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg. As RIA Novosti was told in Shider's secretariat, Zakayev congratulated Shider on his election to the post of PACE chairman and conveyed congratulations to him from Aslan Maskhadov.

Then a 20-minute conversation took place between Zakayev and Shider. At the end of the meeting, Zakayev signed the book of honorary visitors of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Nothing has been reported yet about the content of the conversation.

It is expected that on January 24, Zakayev will outline the results of the negotiations at a special press conference.
Akhmed Zakayev arrived in Strasbourg at the invitation of former PACE head Lord Russell-Johnston on Monday, January 21. Zakayev was in the building of the Palace of Europe for about an hour. He met with PACE Secretary General Bruno Allen and also held a number of working meetings.

As expected by the head of the Russian delegation, Dmitry Rogozin, Zakayev refrained from speaking at the PACE session. However, according to Rogozin, the Russian delegation was ready for Zakaev’s speech: “We will be happy to ask him questions: what do Mr. Maskhadov and Mr. Zakaev think about doing next, have they drawn any conclusions from what is happening now in the world, do they think “It is still possible to associate oneself with Basayev and Khattab.”

According to some reports, Zakayev was interested in a meeting with Dmitry Rogozin, but Maskhadov’s emissary was denied this meeting.

PACE indirectly recognized Chechnya as a subject of international law

On Wednesday, January 23, PACE adopted a resolution on the situation in Chechnya, in which the Chechen Republic, part of the Russian Federation, is indirectly recognized as a subject of international law. Such a resolution is, for obvious reasons, unacceptable to Russia.

According to the head of the Russian delegation, Dmitry Rogozin, the resolution contains both acceptable and extremely unsatisfactory provisions from the Russian point of view.

The positive ones include recognition of progress in establishing a peaceful life in Chechnya and a call on states neighboring Russia to “take urgent measures to hinder the activities of terrorist groups on their territories and to bring terrorist leaders to justice.”

In general, Rogozin rated the adopted document “a three plus or a four minus.” Rogozin called the most negative fact that the resolution included an amendment on the need to judge “terrorists in Chechnya and those who commit crimes there, in accordance with the Geneva Convention on Human Rights.” As Rogozin explained, the Russian delegation was categorically against this, since the Geneva Convention applies in a military conflict between one state and another. Thus, Chechnya is indirectly recognized as a subject of international law, which is categorically unacceptable from Russia’s point of view.

According to the head of the delegation, the vote in PACE showed that Europe is “completely not ready to understand Russian problems.” Rogozin noted that “it seems that the problem of terrorism is still a long way from the Europeans.” However, the deputy said, “by the time they encounter her, it will be too late.”

Moscow pointed sternly at London

Before his visit to Strasbourg, Zakayev visited London at the invitation of the cross-party parliamentary group on human rights.

During the meeting, issues of the situation in the North Caucasus, connections between extremist groups in Chechnya and Osama bin Laden’s terrorists, the situation with the brutal murder of three British citizens and one New Zealander in Chechnya, as well as prospects for a political settlement of the conflict in this region were discussed.

As the British diplomat explained, Zakayev was accepted into the Foreign Ministry as “a person close to Maskhadov, with whom Russian officials established contacts.”

On Tuesday, Zakayev held a press conference in the British Parliament “Chechnya is against terror and violence, in whatever form they appear,” at which he placed all the blame for what is happening in Chechnya on the federal center.

Zakayev was asked questions about the role of Chechens in terrorist activities on the territory of Dagestan, about the connections of Chechens with international terrorism, about involvement in terrorist attacks in Moscow, which resulted in numerous casualties. As RIA Novosti notes, Zakayev was noticeably nervous when answering these questions.

Zakayev's London press conference, of course, did not go unnoticed by the Russian side. On January 21, the British Ambassador to Russia, Roderick Lyne, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was protested about the reception of Zakayev in the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom.
The ambassador was told that Zakayev’s reception was contrary to the spirit of cooperation and partnership between the two countries, including in the field of joint counteraction to international terrorism.

“Despite the fact that the Russian Embassy in London drew the attention of the British Foreign Office to the inadmissibility of holding such a meeting, it still took place,” noted representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Moscow expressed the hope that “the British side will draw conclusions for the future from this presentation.”

Khattab and bin Laden are twin brothers

“By denying the connection of Chechen militants with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, the leader of the former regime of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov and his representative Akhmed Zakayev are trying to pass off wishful thinking,” the office of presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky told reporters.

“The public can now see with their own eyes that the activities of terrorist mercenaries in Chechnya are financed by Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization Al-Qaeda,” this is how Yastrzhembsky’s office reacted to the message about the videotape depicting Khattab and Osama bin Laden.

As you know, a journalist from the American newspaper Newsday bought this film for $500 from one of the residents of Kabul, who discovered it in a house abandoned by militants of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda.

The film captured a meeting between the Chechen field commander Khattab and “terrorist number one” Osama bin Laden.

In addition to Khattab, several more terrorists in camouflage uniforms are present at the audience. Two of them are Arabs. "They are here to help us and to teach us," says Khattab, introducing the Arab terrorists to the Chechen ones. The recording was made in 2000, apparently for “propaganda” purposes, Newsday reports.

“The attitude towards Al-Qaeda is a kind of litmus test, a test of maturity. It is obvious that Maskhadov and his nominee Zakayev did not pass this test,” Yastrzhembsky’s office concluded. “It is impossible to successfully fight al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and, in fact, encourage its activities in Chechnya by calling for negotiations with its representatives,” the staff emphasized, commenting on Zakayev’s upcoming trip to Strasbourg.

Maskhadov's accusations against his former comrades were heard. The Kremlin is waiting for him for negotiations
Let us note that on January 16, Sergei Yastrzhembsky announced that the federal center may continue contacts with Aslan Maskhadov if he fulfills certain conditions.
The conditions for continuing negotiations are a refusal to communicate with centers of international terrorism and an announcement of readiness to surrender weapons.

In this way, the Kremlin responded to a statement by Aslan Maskhadov, who declared Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, Movladi Udugov, Shamil Basaev and Vakha Arsanov to be the culprits of the tragedy that Chechnya has experienced in recent years.

Maskhadov's interview was aired on an underground radio station and is being distributed among residents of Chechnya on audio cassettes.

Having stated the possibility of contacts, Yastrzhembsky, however, immediately made the reservation that “there are no contacts yet, since there is no real readiness to fulfill these conditions.”

Yastrzhembsky's earlier statements, as well as those from the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev, were extremely contradictory.

And Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin, regarding the possibility of negotiations, said that “there will be no more mistakes - there is no possibility of negotiations with Aslan Maskhadov, Shamil Basayev and Khattab.” According to Kvashnin, negotiations with field commanders and ordinary militants are ongoing, but “these negotiations are not about peace, but about the surrender of weapons.” The same position is shared by the commander of the Joint Group of Forces in Chechnya, Lieutenant General Vladimir Moltenskoy, and the head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov.

Let us recall that Kazantsev’s meeting with Maskhadov’s representative Akhmed Zakayev took place back in November 2001, and following the meeting, plenipotentiary representative Viktor Kazantsev said the following: “Zakayev had no practical answers to the president’s statements of September 24. He could not say anything about the disarmament procedure gangs and the procedure for including militants in peaceful life."

Europe recognized Chechnya. And she got a C+. Ambassador Maskhadov was accepted into PACE. But they didn’t let me speak