World press: Routine eccentricity

Shohdy Naguib reviews the Russian international gestures as reflected in its press

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International politics was in the focus of the Russian press over the past week. Russia is increasingly positioning itself as an active player in the world arena as it draws confidence from its current G8 chairmanship.

Throughout the world, heads turned towards Moscow as it witnessed a visit by a Hamas delegation at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin. It soon became apparent, however, that the two sides were approaching the issue of negotiations from opposite directions. Moscow's principal motive for inviting Hamas was the Russian presidents' wish to be the first to talk to the winners of the Palestinian elections.

According to Kommersant daily newspaper, inviting Hamas to Moscow is but a logical continuation of the Russian foreign policy -- and further evidence of its attitude over the past six years. The mediator role between the West and the pariah states has always attracted President Putin who has tried to prove that Russia is capable of finding common ground with those regimes that other world powers are unable to handle.

However, such politics have not always produced the desired results.

From the outset, Hamas has rejected the principal demand made by world community rendering consequent negotiations to failure. Hamas seems to be less concerned with any suitable outcome, than it does with the show of negotiations. From the very start the winners of the Palestinian elections have viewed the high-profile visit to Moscow as means of conducting an international publicity campaign rather than examining the possibility of reaching any compromise.

Others are not too pleased with the visit. According to Gazeta.ru the mere fact of Hamas accepting Putin's invitation has been viewed as an insult by the Chechen fighters. The head of the so- called National Information Service of the Chechen Republic, Movladi Udugov said that while they considered "the Palestine mojahideen our brothers ... we regret the decision of Hamas. Observing the protocol the leaders of Hamas will be shaking hands with the murderers of 250,000 Muslims of Chechnya, 42,000 of which were children."

Udugov was the first among the Chechen separatists to comment on the Hamas leadership representatives' visit to Moscow. Notably Hamas did make a statement regarding Chechnya on the eve of the visit to Moscow. In their interview to NTV station they denied ever distributing posters with Chechen terrorists, accusing the Israeli authorities of disinformation. The leaders of the movement expressed their readiness to discuss the issue of Chechnya with the Russian negotiators if the subject was brought up.

According to Kommersant whatever the result of this visit, the Russian side is certain to make one indisputable gain from the mere fact of the event, referring to Russia's reputation in the Arab world which has become the subject of serious interest for the Russian leadership in recent years. Inviting Hamas in this context is an even more efficient move than the country's recently gained status of observer in the OIC. In this context, Khaled Mashaal's words about "the Arabs nourishing warm feelings towards Russia" will naturally outweigh statements issued by Movladi Udugov and Ahmed Zakaev this week condemning both the Russian authorities and the Hamas leadership.

The Russian media has paid due attention to another international event: President Putin's visit to Hungary and the Czech Republic. The Russian president promised the Czech two billion worth of joint ventures and has confirmed long-term contracts ensuring the delivery of Russian natural gas. Putin asked the Czech politicians not to use the 1968 events to ignite anti-Russian sentiments. But unlike Hungary -- where Putin was not troubled with sharp political questions -- the Czech nevertheless treated the Russian president somewhat less reservedly. The Czech President Vàclav Klaus has admitted raising the question of Chechnya during negotiations with Putin, while his predecessor Vàclav Havel was among those who -- on the day of the visit -- signed an appeal to the leaders of the G8 demanding that the question of Russia's human rights and democracy record in Chechnya be raised during the upcoming summit in St Petersburg.

"Censorship cannot hide the ongoing horror" commented Nezavisimaya Gazeta citing the unfortunate letter that also bears the signature of the last president of the USSR Gorbachev. Meanwhile a Czech senator who went to Chechnya as a journalist publicly announced that he would be walking out of the parliament building in protest against Putin's presence there.

According to President Putin, Chechnya has witnessed the final stage of a counter-terrorist operation and the reconstruction of peaceful life is proceeding at full pace. On Thursday the resignation of the Kremlin-nominated Prime Minister Sergey Abramov was accepted. However, the republic will not remain without a premier for long. President of Chechnya Alu Alhanov has proposed the candidature of Ramzan Kadyrov for the vacated post and the republics parliament is expected to approve unanimously. It seems that the Chechen authorities see no other alternative to this nomination. Gazeta.ru quoted the speaker of the Chechen National Council Dukvah Abdurrahmanov as saying that: "moreover, I regard as necessary to grant him more freedom of action in this position. Kadyrov is capable of raising the economy of the republic and rehabilitating its ruined economy."

According to Kommersant, the recent moves on the part of the Russian General Prosecution have been marked with particular eccentricity following the initiation of yet another case against the pariah oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who for many years has been living in the UK. In this fifth case against him, Berezovsky is being incriminated with "actions aiming at a violent overthrow of power in contempt of the Russian constitution". This accusation has the potential of landing Berezovsky in prison for 20 years -- although the precise action that led to the accusation remains unknown.

The statement distributed by the General Prosecution Office says that the case was instigated on 16 February, and was followed by the court ordering his arrest in absentia on the grounds that the political émigré was preparing a state coup. On 1 March Russia sent a request for his extradition from the UK.

One of the reasons for the recent move against Berezovsky -- according to Kommersant -- was his statement to the effect that he is preparing a "coercive overthrow of power" in Russia. On 24 January in an AFP interview he declared, according to the paper, that "for quite a long time he has been acting in this direction" and that he is intending to "overthrow the acting power" using "his own honestly gained financial resources".

The statement provoked a reaction on the part of the head of the British Foreign Office Jack Straw who said that "the violent overthrow of a sovereign state is unacceptable" and the UK "will take action against those who use the UK as a base from which to foment violent disorder or terrorism in other countries". Berezovsky -- who gained his refugee status in 2003 -- has been advised that it can be reviewed at any time.

The Russian émigré reacted by saying that: "most probably, Jack Straw has been misled or else given an incorrect translation of my statement". Berezovsky has already sent Straw a letter explaining his words and claiming that such an interpretation of what was said regarding the change of power in Russia is "absolutely unjust and incompetent".

"Russian is my native language and what I have said is very precise: I think that Russia needs a robust ploy for power, forcing a regime change, which should be understood as referring to a bloodless means of changing authoritarian regimes for democratic ones," Berezovsky explained.