Chechen Rebels Linked to Bin Laden: Putin
MOSCOW -- Rebels fighting Russian troops in the breakaway Republic of Chechnya are linked to Osama bin Laden, prime suspect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying on Sunday.
At an interview with a group of U.S. journalists in the Kremlin ahead of this week's summit with President George W. Bush, Putin noted that this fact "has been established and is not challenged by U.S. secret services," according to ITAR-TASS.
"These people are virtually from one and the same organization. They were jointly trained in the same terrorist centers. They regard Bin Laden as their teacher," the Russian president added as quoted by AFP.
Putin, who has portrayed the 25-month Russian military operation in Chechnya as an "anti-terrorist" operation, said that over 2,000 Islamic militants who fought in Kosovo, Kashmir, Sudan and Afghanistan had been trained in Chechnya since 1995.
The president repeated Russian assertions that Chechen rebels had volunteered to fight alongside the Taleban in Afghanistan against the U.S.-led offensive to flush out Bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The suspected terrorist mastermind is believed to be in hiding in Afghanistan, where he has been living as an honored guest of the Taleban Islamic regime since 1996.
"This is trustworthy data" from Russian secret services. "We even have lists, lists with names of people who are now being dispatched across Georgia to Turkey," said Putin. "We even know a response of Turkish authorities."
Russia accuses Georgia of turning a blind eye to Chechen rebels using its neighboring territory as a safe haven and transit route and has often pointed the finger at Turkey for not cracking down on Chechen guerrillas on its soil.
Since the devastating terrorist attacks on U.S. landmarks, which killed some 5,000 people, Moscow has given unprecedented support to the United States, allowing it to use its airspace and bases in former Soviet Central Asia for its campaign in Afghanistan.
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