19:55, 15 May 2018

French Foreign Minister argues with Ramzan Kadyrov

Police at the site of the terror act in Paris on May 12, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Reuters TV

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made a harsh comment on the statement voiced by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov about the responsibility of Paris for an attack on passers-by committed by Chechen native Khamzat Azimov.

Earlier, Ramzan Kadyrov has laid the blame for the terror act on the authorities of France, the country where the attacker grew up.

On May 12, a man wearing a beard attacked passers-by in the centre of Paris with a knife. He killed one person and injured four others. The attacker was identified as Khamzat Azimov, a native of Chechnya. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the "Islamic State" (IS) banned in Russia.

Jean-Yves Le Drian has called the statement voiced by the leader of Chechnya "unacceptable."

"We do not intend to receive instructions from a dictator who fails to follow the basic principles of law in his own region," the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" quoted Jean-Yves Le Drian as saying.

The French Foreign Minister has noted that Ramzan Kadyrov is aware of "thousands of Chechens" in the ranks of IS militants.

The French law enforcement bodies were aware that Khamzat Azimov regularly contacted by phone a woman who left for Syria and joined there a unit led by Abu Umar al-Shishani, a well-known field commander, earlier known as Tarkhan Batirashvili, a native of Pankisi. This was reported by the "Kommersant" with reference to its sources.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.