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TITLE: Kremlin Announces Chechnya Pullback |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: CNN |
DATE: January 20, 2001 |
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Russia has announced it is to reduce its vast military deployment in Chechnya. A senior Kremlin official said it will rely more on local police and special forces in its continuing struggle against separatist rebels. Sergei Yastrzhembsky, chief Kremlin spokesman on the 16-month war, did not say when or how many troops would be pulled back from the mountain province in southern Russia. Moscow moved troops into Chechnya in 1999 after incursions into neighbouring Dagestan by Chechen separatists who were also blamed for a series of apartment bombings in Russia. It was the second time Russian troops had been deployed in Chechnya, whose leaders harboured ambitions of independence, in five years. The first campaign ended in defeat and humiliation for the Russian army. The second campaign was more successful in terms of removing the separatists from power -- although rebels continue to fight a guerrilla campaign from their mountain bases. It also attracted international accusations of human rights abuses as the Russian army became bogged down in a war of attrition against the rebels. Members of the pro-Moscow civilian government installed in Chechnya, led by former Muslim cleric Akhmad Kadyrov, are targets of almost daily assassination attempts. Transfer of control Russia has gradually reduced its military deployment from an estimated peak of about 100,000 soldiers since wide-scale fighting stopped last spring. It was not clear if the new plan would increase the pace of the pullback. War has brought devastation to Chechnya But Yastrzhembsky said Russia's 42nd Motorised Division with about 15,000 men, and at least one brigade of Interior Ministry troops, will remain permanently in Chechnya. He said that the plan, approved by President Vladimir Putin, could lead to a transfer of control over the province from the Ministry of Defence to another government agency. He indicated the direction was toward greater civilian control. "This is what Chechen society is calling for," he said. Russia does not disclose the number of troops it has in Chechnya, but tens of thousands are believed to be still there. In fighting on Friday, four Russian soldiers were killed and at least 11 wounded as federal positions were attacked 21 times, an official in Chechnya's administration said. On Thursday the Council of Europe, which suspended Russia's voting rights over the Chechen war, urged Moscow to reduce its deployment. The council's Parliamentary Assembly is scheduled to debate Chechnya next week. Yastrzhembsky said the pullback plan also includes plans to revive the economy in Chechnya, where Moscow has loosened financial control. The new office of a Chechen prime minister will oversee budgets and oil proceeds -- which totaled several hundred million dollar per year -- jointly with Kadyrov. END |