MOSCOW, Sept 9: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the west not to meddle with Russia's Chechnya policy on Wednesday in the wake of a bloody hostage crisis, highlighting a growing rift over the issue between former Cold War foes.
He said, in a reference to British and US offers of asylum to spokesmen for Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, that the west was directly interfering in an internal issue. "When our western partners say we should re-examine our policy, what you call our tactics I would advise them not to interfere in our Russian internal affairs," he told reporters.
"Some try to interfere by offering political asylum to terrorists who are directly linked to the Chechen tragedy." At least 326 hostages - half of them children - died in last Friday's chaotic storming of School No.1 in Beslan, southern Russia, after it was seized by gunmen demanding Chechen independence. Another 356 are still in hospital.
Russia blames Maskhadov and warlord Shamil Basayev for Beslan and other Chechen-related violence and links them to groups who conducted attacks such as 9/11, strikes on US cities and the Madrid train bombing in March this year.
President Vladimir Putin has promised to investigate the hostage raid properly. On Thursday Alexander Dzasokhov - the president of North Ossetia, where the hostage drama took place - sacked his government, Russian news agencies reported.
ROOT CAUSES: Though the European Union and the United States have been quick to condemn the latest string of violence, they have infuriated Moscow by pressing it to deal with the root causes and address the grievances of the Chechen people.
Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet president when the Chechnya crisis started, also called on Thursday for talks with the rebels. Putin, speaking after the hostage drama, said the demands for the Kremlin to negotiate with separatist rebels were akin inviting Osama bin Laden to the White House for dialogue.
Russia has instead sought to end Chechen demands for independence by force of arms, fighting two wars there since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw long-suppressed ethnic and national tensions boil over into violence.
"This policy is supported by the Chechen people which voted in a referendum for a constitution to keep the Chechen people in the Russia Federation," said Lavrov. Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, a close Putin ally, on Thursday repeated threats to stage pre-emptive strikes on militant bases outside Russia, Russian news agencies said.
Thursday was the fifth anniversary of a midnight bomb blast which destroyed an apartment block in Moscow, killing nearly 100 people. Two more blasts followed, all blamed on Chechen rebels.
In the wave of outrage which followed, Putin, then prime minister, sent troops to Chechnya, a move that won massive support and helped propel him to the presidency in 2000.
Chechen rebels promised to pay $20 million to anyone helping them capture Putin in a statement posted on separatist Web sites, a day after Moscow offered $10 million for the capture of Basayev and Maskhadov.
Maskhadov, a relative moderate among Chechen separatists who have been fighting Russia for 10 years, has denied involvement in the hostage-taking. Basayev has yet to comment, but experts say the attack showed all the signs of his leadership.
CORRUPTION: Many Russians say corruption among the security services is partly to blame for Beslan and other attacks, since heavily armed separatist fighters managed to infiltrate areas hitherto untouched by the decade-long Chechen conflict.
The president of North Ossetia, which includes Beslan, sacked his government after widespread anger over official failings. Muscovites surveyed by the respected Levada centre felt overwhelmingly that the state could not protect them, with 77 per cent of the 500 people interviewed after Beslan saying the security services could not guarantee their security.
The same survey showed 34 per cent of people blamed the FSB and police for the hostage-taking, compared to 33 per cent who blamed militants. On Thursday, the Health Ministry promised to pay the families of those killed in the bloodbath some $3,500 compensation as well as paying for funerals. Hostages, both those wounded and unharmed would receive a smaller pay-out. -Reuters