Pak. confirms letting in Chechen official

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, FEB. 5. Pakistan's embassy in Moscow has confirmed reports that a Chechen rebel official was in Islamabad last week but denied he had secretly met Pakistani leaders.

The Itar-Tass news agency on Saturday quoted a statement for the press issued by the Pakistani embassy as saying that ``(Zelimkhan) Yandarbiyev was arrested and interrogated by local authorities in Islamabad on Tuesday.'' Mr. Yandarbiyev, former acting President of the breakaway Chechnya, was appointed Chechnya's ``ambassador'' to Kabul last month, following the Taliban's recognition of Russia's rebel region.

Referring to press reports that Mr. Yandarbiyev had a secret meeting with Pakistan's leadership in Islamabad, the embassy stated that ``no such meeting took place.''

On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry asked Islamabad for ``an official reaction to our request how Yandarbiyev and his associates arrived on Pakistani territory, what documents they used and how they received visas.'' However, the embassy statement failed to answer any of these questions. It merely said that after interrogation, Mr. Yandarbiyev ``was released.''

Moreover, the embassy virtually refuted press reports, cited in the Russian Foreign Ministry statement, that Mr. Yandarbiyev had been deported from Pakistan. The embassy statement just mentioned that Mr. Yandarbiyev ``told the local press that he was leaving Pakistan.''

Meanwhile, Moscow made it clear that deportation of Mr. Yandarbiyev was an acid test for Pakistan's stand on Chechnya. ``Official Islamabad has repeatedly stated that Pakistan regards Chechnya as an integral part of the Russian Federation and had no intention of interfering in its internal affairs,'' the Russian statement said. ``If reports of the deportation of Z. Yandarbiyev and his accomplices are true, this would confirm the Pakistani authorities' declared position on developments in North Caucasus.''

Russia has also warned other countries, especially Pakistan's neighbours, against letting in Mr. Yandarbiyev. ``The presence of Z. Yandarbiyev on their territory will be considered in Moscow as an unfriendly gesture and will inevitably complicate bilateral state-to-state relations,'' the Foreign Ministry said.

Russia last week accused Pakistan of harbouring extremist groups on its territory and criticised Islamabad's failure to oppose the recognition of Chechnya by the Taliban. Pakistan responded by accusing Moscow of ``gross interference'' in its internal affairs.

In an interview to the Novyie Izvestia daily on Saturday, Pakistan's ambassador in Moscow, Mr. Mansur Alam, dismissed as ``ludicrous'' suggestions that Islamabad could have prevented the Taliban's recognition of Chechnya. ``If we had an effective instrument of influencing the Taliban, as Russia appears to think, they would have long received a U.N. seat, instead of dubious dividends from such an emotional and incomprehensible gesture towards the Chechens,'' the envoy said.

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Section  : International
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