Chechen Leader Calls for International Peace Commission

WASHINGTON (PROTEXT) - The following was released today by John Adams Associates: A Chechen leader wounded in the first Russian attack on Grozny in 1995, who later served as first deputy prime minister in the Chechen Government, today called for establishment of an international commission to bring peace to Chechnya. In a statement issued from Baku in neighboring Azerbaijan, Khozh-Ahmed Noukhaev said Russia will never gain its objectives by military means -- however heavy the bombing -- because the Chechen people's will for self-determination is such that guerilla warfare will continue for years. This continuing warfare will prevent Russia from exercising the control it seeks over the region -- including the Caspian oilfields. Peace negotiations are the only way out for Russia, he said, and Chechens are looking to the Russian Parliament for support -- specifically the new parliamentary majority following the upcoming elections. Noukhaev said peace talks could be based on the following three principles: -- Accepting the already existing Russian-Chechen agreements as a legal basis. -- Ratification of the existing agreements by the new Russian Parliament. -- Disbanding the illegal armed groups in Chechnya by the accepted leaders of the Chechen clans. Noukhaev said the first step in the peace process should be establishment of an International Commission headed by such respected world figures as former President Jimmy Carter or former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to oversee the freeing of illegally detained persons on both sides. The creation of such a commission would establish the necessary favorable climate for subsequent peace negotiations, he said. ots Original Text Service: John Adams Associates Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: John Adams of John Adams Associates, 202-737-8400; or Mansour, +994-50-212-9853, for John Adams Associates Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT