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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Copycat strike
By Abdel-Malik KhalilNotwithstanding the fact that Russia lost its 1994-96 war against Chechen separatists, and after blaming Chechen militant Islamists for masterminding the bombing campaign in Moscow and other Russian cities and invading the neighbouring republic of Dagestan, Moscow is bombing Chechnya and amassing troops on the breakaway republic's borders. Russia claims to be conducting "precision" air strikes in much the same vein as NATO did in Yugoslavia. However, the Russian campaign seems to be causing even more collateral damage to civilians than NATO did.
The Russian interior ministry announced this week that it had arrested several suspects for the bombings that rocked Moscow and several other Russian cities. Moscow also sent the international police organisation, Interpol, the names of 17 Chechen warlords who it claims are behind the terrorist campaign and the upsurge of violence in the Caucuses.
Shamil Baseyev, the Chechen warlord who humiliated Russian forces in the 1994-96 war, severely criticised Russia's use of force in Chechnya. Baseyev said that hundreds of innocent civilians were killed because of the air raids and that the Chechen are even more determined than ever to maintain their independence from Moscow. Baseyev called on the international community to recognise Chechen independence and to condemn Russia for causing the death of innocent civilians.
Western military experts point out that Russia's strike rate against Chechnya was considerably less intense than NATO's air strike in Yugoslavia. The Russian air force is reportedly flying between 50 and 60 sorties a day, which compares very poorly with about 300 in Yugoslavia. Yet the Chechen remain as strong as ever in their mountain stronghold.
However, a flood of Chechen refugees are fleeing their war-torn homeland. Over 110,000 refugees have fled Chechnya in response to Russia's air strikes. Moscow refused to recognise Chechen independence in 1996 and shows no sign of recognising Chechen independence today. But there is no sign either of a complete military defeat of the Islamist separatists in Chechnya.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin played down suggestions that Moscow was planning a full-scale land offensive. A storming of the Islamist bastion in the Caucasus mountains would unleash the wrath of zealots and warriors in the region and would cost the lives of many more Russian soldiers.
Putin announced plans to resuscitate a Chechen parliament in exile and called on the exiled Chechen parliamentarians living in Moscow and other Russian cities for support. However, the Moscow-based Chechen parliament in exile is widely dismissed as a rubber-stamp parliament and has no credibility whatsoever inside Chechnya. The influence of Islamic fundamentalism has grown in Chechnya itself, but not as much as Russia claims. Moscow fears that an independent Chechnya would be a sanctuary for militant Islamists and a launching pad for terrorist strikes and Islamist uprising in other parts of the Caucuses.
Meanwhile, this week, there were massive demonstrations in Moscow marking the October 1993 shooting of 245 people by Yeltsin's police force. There were also nationwide prayers and memorial services for the departed who are widely regarded as martyrs. Yeltsin had ordered the police to shoot the people when he arbitrarily dissolved the Russian parliament, the Duma, which sparked off massive demonstrations in front of the parliament buildings in Red Square.
This week, the current Russian parliament rejected the government's draft budget for 2000 at its first reading. Meanwhile, the political skirmishing has intensified ahead of December's parliamentary elections.
