CHECHEN SEPARATIST SPOKESMAN DISMISSES REPORT OF TIES WITH BIN-LADIN
Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency web site
20 Nov 04
A leading Chechen separatist spokesman has refuted a US defence agency
report alleging links between Usamah Bin-Ladin and the Chechens
back in 1998. Movladi Udugov says that the report that Al-Qa’idah
training camps were being set up in Chechnya, Ingushetia and other
republics is “a tissue of lies and a crude provocation”, and that
the Americans are using such false reports to prepare for further
interference in the North Caucasus. The following is the text of the
report by Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency web site on 20 November headlined
“Report on ties between Bin-Ladin and Chechnya a tissue of lies”;
subheadings inserted editorially:
US report says Al-Qa’idah camps “being set up” in North Caucasus
Some Russian and American information sources reported yesterday
(19 November) that a certain non-governmental organization, Judicial
Watch, had apparently gained access to a report prepared in October
1998 by the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). The DIA report
claims that Usamah Bin-Ladin had established close ties with the
Chechens back in 1998. He was allegedly operating in mediation with
(late rebel field commander in Chechnya) Khattab and the leader of
the Islamic Path party, Movladi Udugov. It is claimed that Khattab
and nine other of Bin-Ladin’s associates had been sent to the North
Caucasus to set up a new Al-Qa’idah training base. As a result
of their efforts, Bin-Ladin’s organization had apparently set up
training camps in Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabarda-Balkaria,
Karachay and Adygeya. Organizational and financial support was also
given to friendly groups operating in Crimea, Azerbaijan, Tatarstan,
Bashkortostan, Central Asia, as well as in Moscow and St Petersburg.
It is also claimed that Bin-Ladin had allegedly met Movladi Udugov
in Afghanistan on a number of occasions, and had focused particular
attention on the military training of ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and
Ossetians, who had converted to Islam, for the preparation of terrorist
acts. Al-Qa’idah’s main strike was expected to be directed against the
Americans and other representatives of the West, Israelis, Russians
(especially Cossacks), Serbs, Chinese, Armenians and disloyal Muslims.
Separatist spokesman rubbishes report
The head of the external sub-committee of the Information Committee of
the State Defence Council – Majlis ul-Shura of the Chechen Republic
of Ichkeria, Movladi Udugov described the story of the report about
ties between Bin-Ladin and Chechnya as a tissue of lies.
“This is a tissue of lies and a crude provocation. It is a simple
matter to expose this falsification. In the first place, Islamic Path
has never been a party, but was simply a pre-election association of
my supporters in 1997. It existed for a few weeks and was dissolved
immediately after the elections in accordance with the law. In 1998
this organization simply did not exist.
“Second, I did not travel outside Chechnya until December 1999 (not
counting trips to Moscow for talks, to the hajj in 1997, together
with (Chechen rebel) President (Aslan) Maskhadov, and to Poland, also
with Maskhadov). Therefore, there could not have been in principle
any meetings, especially with Bin-Ladin, either in Afghanistan or
anywhere else. Perhaps he himself went to Mecca, Moscow or Warsaw.
“Third, an elementary analysis of the text of the so-called ‘report’
shows that it had simply been copied from many ‘operational reports ‘
of the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service). The mention of Cossacks
is particularly touching.
“Fourth, this is not the first nonsense of this kind. One has only
to recall the false claims about Chechen detachments in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Iraq. As is known, up to now neither the Russians, the
Americans nor the British have come up with a single fact to support
their claims in this regard. It is nothing but a lot of nonsense. There
has not been a single living or dead Chechen there.
“Fifth, there have never been any Al-Qa’idah training camps in Chechnya
or anywhere else. If there were, then perhaps someone would indicate
specific geographical addresses rather than throw away general
claims. The only training centre in Serzhen-Yurt, which was run by
amir Khattab, was an official unit of the CRI armed forces. Khattab
himself was appointed the head of the training centre immediately
after the first war by an order of the commander-in-chief of the CRI
armed forces, (Aslan) Maskhadov.
“Therefore, my estimation of this false report is that it is a tissue
of lies from beginning to end. And there is one other observation. I
get the impression that the emergence of such ‘reports,’ is not
very much to Moscow’s liking. The Americans, with the help of such
outbursts of disinformation, are creating preconditions for future
direct interference in the North Caucasus,” Movladi Udugov pointed
out in his comments.