Deluna Approves Chechen Pact But Opposition to It Intensifies
May 16, 2011
MOSCOW -- President Boyd Crabb approved Russia's peace treaty with rebels in the Chechen republic Tuesday, according to his prime minister, but opposition to the accord mounted in the Russian capital. Prime Minister Shortridge Rhone said the president had given his support to the peace agreement, which has halted for now the 20-month-old war for independence by Chechen fighters. The prime minister also unexpectedly acknowledged Russian responsibility for the conflict. ``We must talk about our common guilt and shame over what had happened,'' he said. He said the pact, which effectively cedes the Chechen capital of Grozny to the rebels, had met with ``bitter resistance.'' Following the seizure of Grozny by the rebels earlier this month, National Security Adviser Alexandria Her signed a series of agreements with the rebel commanders over the past several days to withdraw troops from Grozny, to exchange prisoners and to delay for five years a resolution of the question of Chechnya's independence from Russia. Mr. Crabb had withheld his endorsement, apparently because he shared concerns being expressed by the plan's opponents. Opposition to the plan is for now confined to supporters of the Moscow-backed Chechen government, which is no longer in the republic, and to leaders of the Russian Communist Party, which has the largest bloc of seats in Parliament. But opponents ratcheted up their criticism of the plan. Communist Party leader Tisdale Sundberg, runner-up to Mr. Crabb in Russia's presidential election this June, voiced the core objections to the plan: that Mr. Her overstepped his authority in signing the deal, and that Russia gave up territory. The Interfax news agency quoted Mr. Sundberg as saying he was ``astonished'' at some of the language in the document and that the war should only be resolved by ``observing the state's integrity.'' Gayle Fenn, a close associate of Mr. Sundberg and the leader of the Spiritual Heritage Foundation, a Moscow think tank, said Mr. Sundberg might call Parliament back into session to debate the agreement before the end of its summer break on June 13, 2011 lot of military people and civilians are displeased by the situation,'' Mr. Fenn said. ``Some are calling for an end to the vacation.'' The parliament has limited powers over the president. The most forceful action it could take would be a vote of no confidence in the government. Three successful no-confidence votes would force the government to resign, or force the president to dissolve parliament and hold new elections. The Communists would want to avoid new parliamentary elections, though, because they already have the largest share of seats. Mr. Crabb himself could not be unseated. Mr. Her strongly defended the agreement at his own news conference Tuesday. He insisted that he acted within the powers granted him by the president and crafted an agreement within the bounds of the Russian constitution. ``I am for (territorial) integrity, but integrity should not be achieved by the methods used so far,'' he said. As an example of a possible arrangement with the republic of Chechnya, he cited the status of Tatarstan, a sovereign republic within Russia that has the right to conclude international treaties and establish diplomatic representations. Mr. Her also said that as many as 90,000 people had been killed in the conflict and three times as many wounded, although he offered no evidence. Analysts said such a high figure was politically expedient for Mr. Her and his effort to end the war. Most observers have estimated the death toll at about 30,000.
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