February 2, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 29, 1423

MOSCOW: The Council of Europe’s chief negotiator with Russia has offered to resign in protest at the Kremlin’s plans to force the government in Chechnya to accept a political solution drafted by Moscow.

Lord Judd, the council’s rapporteur on Chechnya, said on Friday that he would resign from his post if a referendum on the republic’s constitution went ahead on March 23.

The Kremlin, which considers the poll as an essential step towards the government they want to impose on Chechnya, seemed to consider his resignation effective immediately.

Lord Judd has opposed Russia’s policy towards Chechnya for months.

Moscow insists that a referendum can be held and a government put in place despite ongoing violence.

Lord Judd told the London-based Guardian newspaper: “The security situation is such that there is no way people can meet to discuss [this new constitution]. In the Chechen refugee camps in [the neighbouring republic of] Ingushetia I did not find a single person who has even seen a copy of the constitution.

“If the referendum goes ahead on that date, I cannot see any way I can remain.” After a visit to Chechnya last week, Lord Judd said that a “climate of impunity” still reigns in the republic. He pointed out that mass killings and abductions by Russian troops in the region had not been investigated properly.

Earlier this week, a coalition of human rights groups condemned a series of murders and disappearances carried out by both sides.

A spokesman for Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said: “I believe the main reason for Lord Judd’s resignation is that the political times in Chechnya have moved forward, and he is no longer able to catch up.”

Members of the Russian parliament were also dismissive of the resignation offer. Gennady Seleznyov, the parliamentary speaker, said: “That is the right decision for a man, who is a captive of his ideas, who thinks that his recommendations must be strictly fulfilled and who does not want to listen to Russian arguments.”—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.