RUSSIA: The Russian President has ruled out talks with the Chechen president, Mr Aslan Maskhadov, whom he described as a "murderer" and has effectively ruled out a troop withdrawal from Chechnya in the foreseeable future.
There will be "no second Khasavyurt", Mr Vladimir Putin said yesterday, in a reference to the 1996 peace treaty which wound down the earlier Chechen conflict of 1994-96, heralding a withdrawal of Russian forces from the separatist southern republic.
The agreement signed at Khasavyurt, Dagestan, followed a successful rebel assault on Russian forces and their subsequent withdrawal was widely interpreted as a defeat.
Addressing a group of leading pro-Russian Chechen businessmen and religious leaders in the Kremlin, Mr Putin said Mr Maskhadov - who was elected Chechen president in January 1997 - had "opted for terrorism".
Russia has accused Mr Maskhadov of organising last month's hostage-taking in a Moscow theatre in which 128 people died along with 41 hostage-takers, despite the his denial of involvement.
Mr Putin's comments drew immediate criticism from human rights groups. "Negotiations with Maskhadov are not just an abstract idea, but a way out of the war," said Ms Eliza Mussayeva of the Memorial group. "They are the only hope for my people."
Mr Lev Ponomarev, leader of another human rights organisation, said: "A head of state should not allow himself to utter such emotive words. It's inadmissible."
Mr Putin's meeting with representatives of the Chechen diaspora came as a group of Russian human rights activists, writers and liberal politicians in Moscow wound up a two-day conference on Chechnya, calling for a negotiated settlement with mediation by international bodies such as the United Nations.
Many delegates, though not all, called on the Kremlin to negotiate with Mr Maskhadov.
The conference called on EU leaders to "do everything possible to end the war, enforce respect for human rights and support the peace process in the northern Caucasus".
Denouncing "massive rights violations" in Chechnya, rights groups said the conflict had become "as tragic and dangerous as the Arab-Israeli conflict".
Mr Putin has blamed Mr Maskhadov for "bringing Russia and Chechnya to war . . . those who choose Mr Maskhadov choose war. To those who propose negotiating with the murderer, we suggest they negotiate with [Osama\] bin Laden and mullah Omar" - a reference to the leaders of al-Qaeda.
The Chechen "initiative group" on Friday called on the Chechen people to speed up the constitutional process and denounced the continuing killing, including last month's hostage-taking.
Mr Putin however said: "Citizens must understand what a Chechen settlement means. At stake is the maintenance of the integrity of the Russian state."
Russia has said it will organise a referendum in Chechnya for a new constitution determining its status within the Russian Federation, but no date has yet been set. - (AFP)