Chechen president meets with former deputies of Ichkerian parliament

On April 7, Akhmat Kadyrov met with a group of deputies of the parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria convoked in 1997. The meeting took place in Gudermes.

"Maskhadov hardly represents a political or military figure today. He is not a leader of even a small group of people. How can he call himself a president if people who were very close to him have left him - defense minister Magomed Khambiyev, chief of the special office Boris Aydaitrov, and chief of his bodyguard Shaa Turlayev, not to mention dozens of other people who were called field commanders?" Akhmat Kadyrov said during the meeting.

In his opinion, the appeals by some foreign politicians to start negotiations with Aslan Maskhadov are absolutely baseless. "I can assert with all due responsibility that no one in the federal center or the Chechen administration will negotiate with Maskhadov," he said. "I'm the only one who will talk with him, and this talk will be only about conditions and a place of his surrender to the law-enforcement agencies."

Meanwhile, as long ago as the day before it, Kadyrov said to the local television he was ready to be a guarantor of Aslan Maskhadov's safety in case he laid down arms and gave himself up to the authorities.

Editors note: See also the article "Operation to detain Maskhadov is underway".