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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14749)	10/2/1999 9:59:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

It is more complicated than that...Russia tried to concur Chechnia for many years....Stalin killed 250,000 Chechnians and emptied Chechnia....Chechnia was never really a proper Russia, certainly not a cratle of Russian civilization, like Kosovo is for Serbs...there is no Russians in Chechnia... Similarity is that Chechnia (primarily because of Daghestan is the only way for Caspian Oil to be transported via Russia...Russia would never give this oil rights up....Thus the only way they can contain Chechens is by superbrutal destruction...We shall see how long West would be able to give this vicious campaign a blind eye..this is the real test for supreme hypocrisy that West so vividly demonstrated in Kosovo...Watch for Oil to go over $28/barrel as Russia get more and more bogged down in Chechen quigmire....with severe Oil shortages in Russia proper...and cut-down in exports/exploration

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14749)	10/2/1999 10:39:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviews Amazon.com A correspondent for the Financial Times, Anatol Lieven spent much time in Chechnya, the postage-stamp-sized Caucasus republic whose break from Russia in 1994 precipitated a major war (one that Russia lost). Lieven looks into the long, troubled history of Russian-Chechen relations, noting that each side despised the other for largely cultural reasons (the Chechens have long been involved in organized crime in major Russian cities, whereas Russians have long tried to strip Chechnya of its resources). He notes that Chechen society has historically been militarized (one Armenian said to Lieven, "The men are always fighting and the women are cooking for them, nursing their wounds, and bringing up their children"), making the mountain people a formidable foe. In the meanwhile, writes Lieven, the Russian military suffered from low morale and from corruption of various kinds: Russian field soldiers sold their guns to Chechen guerrillas for vodka and currency, while Russian officers stole their soldiers' pay and Russian politicians skimmed off the top. This is an extraordinary look at a little-known conflict. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title russiatoday.com Saturday, Oct 2 at Prague 04:27 am, N.Y. 10:27 pm Editor's Pick: Help keep this website free. Fill out our annual Reader's Survey and you could win a prize! Thank you! BUSINESS NEWS Plans For Oil Pipeline To Bypass Troubled Chechnya MOSCOW, Oct 1, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) A Russian company, Transneft, plans to build a new oil pipeline through the Caucusus that would bypasss the troubled breakaway republic of Chechnya, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday. It said Transneft planned to form a subsidiary to carry out the project and had invited Russian oil companies to participate. News of the project came as Russia escalated a military offensive against Chechnya, which Moscow accuses of harboring Islamic guerrillas responsible for raids into neighboring Dagestan and a wave of terrorist bombings in Russia. A week of daily air raids on the breakaway republic has notably targeted oil industry sites. Transneft and an Azerbaijan oil transport company, AIOC, will each hold 10 percent of the subsidiary, with the remaining 80 percent will be divided among other investors. According to Interfax, the decision was taken during a meeting last week chaired by Russian First Vice Prime Minister Nikolai Aksenenko. Energy Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny estimated last week that the construction of a pipeline bypassing Chechnya could be finished in six to eight months, but he did not indicate how it might be financed. The Russian oil company Lukoil, one of whose vice-presidents heads Transneft, has strongly lobbied hard in favor of the project. ((c) 1999 Agence France Presse)

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14749)	10/2/1999 10:50:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

Chronology Of Russian Involvement In North Caucasus Russia is facing the most serious challenge to its authority in the North Caucasus region since its ill-fated 1994-96 bid to crush rebel guerrillas in Chechnya. Moscow has sent troops to Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, to combat an armed Islamic revolt it says is being supported by Chechen warlords. Here is a brief history of Russia's involvement in the North Caucasus region, which borders the oil-rich Caspian Sea and the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia. 1722 - Peter the Great annexes Caspian Sea regions of Dagestan at the start of a 150-year military campaign to absorb the largely Moslem North Caucasus region into the Russian Empire. Russia starts settling armed Cossack volunteers there. Mid-19th century - The legendary Shamil uses Islam to weld mountain tribes of Dagestan and Chechnya into a formidable fighting force. His ambition is to create a theocratic, Islamic state, but he is eventually defeated by Russia's superior numbers and technology. He lives out his days as the honored guest of his former foes in the imperial capital St Petersburg and other Russian cities. 1917 - Russian revolution brings Communists to power and ensuing civil war cements their hold over vast, multi-ethnic nation now known as the Soviet Union. Islam and a traditional clan system remain strong among peoples of the North Caucasus despite persecution from the atheistic regime in Moscow. 1943 - With Nazi German troops camped near regional capital Grozny, Chechen separatists rebel against Soviet rule. 1944 - Soviet dictator Josef Stalin takes his revenge by deporting the entire Chechen people and their ethnic cousins and neighbors, the Ingushi, to Central Asia. Tens of thousands die. 1957 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev allows the Chechens back to the Caucasus, setting up the Checheno-Ingush republic. Oct 1991 - Following the overthrow of local communist ruler Doku Zavgayev, Soviet air force general Dzhokhar Dudayev wins a disputed local poll and declares Chechnya independent. Russia rejects any talk of independence but takes no action against Dudayev and allows him to run Chechnya. Dec 1994 - President Boris Yeltsin sends troops to Chechnya to crush the independence movement, but they meet strong resistance from guerrilla fighters and suffer heavy casualties. Feb 1995 - Separatists abandon capital Grozny, reduced to ruins by artillery and rocket attacks over a month of fighting. June 1995 - Rebels seize hundreds of hostages in the Russian town Budennovsk. Over 100 people die. Peace talks open, Russia orders a halt to military operations, but the conflict goes on. Jan 1996 - Fighters seize hostages in neighboring Dagestan, then move to the village of Pervomaiskoye just outside Chechnya. Most rebels escape, but many are killed. Feb 1996 - Yeltsin says the Chechnya campaign was "maybe one of our mistakes" but rules out withdrawal of Russian forces. April 1996 - Dudayev is killed in a rocket attack and replaced by vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. May 1996 - Yeltsin and Yandarbiyev agree a truce at talks in Moscow. It holds until the presidential poll which Yeltsin wins some six weeks later. Yeltsin visits Russian troops in Grozny. Aug 1996 - Rebels seize Grozny. Yeltsin gives national security adviser Alexander Lebed powers to resolve the crisis. Lebed signs a truce on August 31 providing for a Russian pullout and deferring the issue of Chechen sovereignty for five years. Sept 1996 - Russia starts withdrawing its soldiers. Oct 1996 - Aslan Maskhadov, former rebel chief-of-staff, is named prime minister of an interim government. His platform includes independence and some elements of Islamic sharia law. Dec 1996 - Six foreign Red Cross workers are murdered in Chechnya, casting a shadow over the election campaign. Jan 1997 - Last Russian troops leave. Thirteen candidates run for president on January 27 and Maskhadov is elected with almost 65 percent of the vote. Jan 1997 - Unidentified kidnappers seize two Russian journalists in Chechnya, first in a long series of abductions for ransom money which fuel tensions with Moscow and effectively block the reconstruction of the shattered economy. March 1997 - Russia's Parliament approves amnesty for most Chechen rebel fighters. May 12 1997 - Yeltsin and Maskhadov sign peace accord but Chechnya's final status still unresolved. Moscow says Chechnya must stay part of Russian Federation, albeit with wide autonomy. May 1998 - Gunmen briefly seize main government building in Dagestani capital Makhachkala, underlining political tensions in wider North Caucasus region beyond Chechnya. August 1998 - Dagestan's top Moslem cleric, his brother and a driver killed in bomb attack. September 1998 - Chechen warlords demand the resignation of President Maskhadov, saying he is too conciliatory towards Moscow. Maskhadov also under pressure from Russia, which says he is failing to combat organized criminal gangs, whose frequent kidnappings have turned Chechnya into no-go zone for outsiders. March 1999 - Maskhadov narrowly escapes assassination attempt. In unrelated incident, more than 50 die in a bomb blast in Vladikavkaz, capital of North Ossetia which borders Chechnya. July 1999 - Russian troops clash with Chechen fighters near Chechnya's border with Dagestan. Aug 7 1999 - Russian helicopters pound positions held by Islamic militants in Dagestan said to have come from Chechnya. Moscow vows firm action to dislodge intruders but says it does not seek resumption of full-scale war with breakaway Chechnya. Aug 8 1999 - Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, a longstanding hawk on Chechnya, travels to Dagestan to supervise Russian counter-offensive. Aug 9 1999 ? Yeltsin sacks Stepashin and replaces him with Vladimir Putin, a strong personality who vows action on the Dagestani front. Aug 10 1999 ? Islamic militants declare Dagestan?s independence from the Russian Federation. (C)1999 Copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters Limited.