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TITLE: Mystery Cloaks "Professionalism" of US Aid Worker's Release in Chechnya |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: AFP |
DATE: February 5, 2001 |
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A cloak-and-dagger atmosphere surrounded the release in Chechnya of kidnapped US aid worker Kenny Gluck after President Vladimir Putin on Monday praised Russia's secret service for its "highly professional" work. Conspiracy theories spread after an officer in the FSB security service (ex-KGB) told the Kommersant daily that Gluck had been set free by his captors and not rescued as the Russian authorities claimed. "Gluck appeared suddenly around 1:00 am Sunday (2200 GMT Saturday) near the house of the local doctor in Stariye Atagi," the village south of Chechnya's capital Grozny where the American was abducted on January 9, said the officer, who asked not to be named. "He said unknown people had kept him captive not far from there," the newspaper's informant continued, fanning rumours that Gluck may have been snatched by pro-Kremlin Chechens tipped off by the FSB. "Half an hour earlier, the abductors blindfolded him and took him outside. When they got close to the doctor's house they took off his blindfold and one of the abductors said: 'A man lives here whom you know well.' "The hostage-takers then disappeared," added the FSB officer based in Chechnya.FSB chief spokesman Alexander Zdanovich immediately denied the report and launched an investigation to discover the identity of the security service whistleblower. Meanwhile Putin, an ex-KGB spy, hailed the American's release Monday, saying: "This was highly professional work, without any casualties.... That is most important." Zdanovich said Sunday that Gluck was freed the previous night in a special operation carried out by Russian security services, but analysts remained sceptical due to his boast that "not a shot had been fired" during the rescue mission. The FSB spokesman continued to maintain Monday that Russian agents had located the place in Stariye Atagi where 38-year-old Gluck was held captive and had painstakingly staked out the area for several days. Gluck, a volunteer for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), was taken to Nazran, in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia on Monday, and was expected to fly back to Moscow later in the day, an MSF spokesman said. "I am feeling fine in myself. Very happy to be no longer a prisoner. My health is good. My captors treated me reasonably well," Gluck said in comments broadcast on the private NTV television channel shortly after his release. "They didn't beat me and for now I am just happy that I am going home," he added. Whispers that Gluck's abduction was an inside job sponsored by Russian secret agents and their Chechen partners were dismissed Monday by the war-torn republic's prosecutor Vsevolod Chernov. "Our version, that the American was kidnapped by bandits allied to (Chechen warlord) Yakub are completely confirmed," he was quoted as saying Monday by Interfax. However, a top journalist specialising in the Chechen conflict for the Novaya Gazeta weekly told NTV that "Yakub" is a mythological figure invented by the Russian military to take the blame for miscellaneous evils. Gluck dismissed suggestions that his kidnapping might have long-term consequences for the aid effort in the North Caucasus, with rumours of many international organisations mulling a permanent withdrawal. The pro-Moscow head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, also said that Gluck's release should allow humanitarian work -- suspended after the seizure of the US citizen -- to resume in Chechnya. "This should promote the return of missions of international humanitarian organisations to Chechnya," Kadyrov said, quoted by Interfax news agency. END |