Russia/Chechnya

Chechnya separatists to stop attacks

Article published on the 2009-07-27 Latest update 2009-07-27 11:35 TU

The square in Grozny where the suicide bomb exploded, 26 July 2009
(Photo: Reuters)

The exiled Chechnya separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev said fighters will stop attacks on police as of this weekend, according to the Kommersant newspaper. This announcement comes a day after seven people were killed in a suicide attack in the Chechen capital Grozny on Sunday.

"From 1 August, our fighters will not use arms against Chechen police except for self-defence," said Zakayev, saying the decision was taken after a recent meeting in Oslo with Chechen Parliament Speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov, on behalf of the Russian-supported Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

More meetings will be held in the coming days in London, where Zakayev has been living in exile since he was granted asylum by the UK in 2002.

These meetings represent the first serious political dialogue between the Kremlin-backed leaders and the exiled separatist government since Moscow ended its decade-long ‘anti-terror operation’ in Chechnya this April.

Kadyrov has said he will negotiate Zakayev’s return, saying that he is key to stabilising the region.

The decision to stop attacks comes a day after seven people were killed and four were wounded by a suicide bomb explosion outside a concert hall in Grozny.

Four police officers along with a Georgian and a Turkish man died Sunday when the bomb exploded in the evening.

Kadyrov said the attack showed that the violent separatist campaign against Russia rule was waning.

"It is an attempt to make our forces pull back from the area where a special operation is being carried out, an attempt to make us stop working to destroy the rebels,” he told the Interfax news agency.