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Chechen separatists to halt attacks on police: Report
Chechen separatists will halt attacks on police from August, their emissary Akhmed Zakayev was today quoted as saying by Russia's Kommersant newspaper.
Chechen separatists will halt attacks on police from August, their emissary Akhmed Zakayev was on Monday quoted as saying by Russia's Kommersant newspaper.
"From August 1, our fighters will not use arms against Chechen police except for self-defence," he said.
The decision had been taken recently in Berlin at a meeting between exiled Chechen lawmakers and members of the Russian region's self-proclaimed government, the envoy said.
A new meeting will be held in the coming days in London to try to bring peace to the southern mountainous region. "I hope Chechens will never fire on each other again," Zakayev said.
The report came after seven people were killed and four others were wounded Sunday in a suicide attack outside a concert hall in the Chechen capital Grozny, according to officials.
Chechnya's Kremlin-backed President Ramzan Kadyrov said on July 7 he would negotiate for Zakayev's return, saying it was key to stabilising the turbulent region.
A close ally of separatist president Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed in 2005, Zakayev has been living in exile in London since 2002. Britain granted him political asylum a year later.
