Security Chief Kaminski Meets Chechen Rebel Leader
April 28, 2011
Security chief Alexandria Her returned to on Friday after his first meeting with the separatist leader, and both men voiced new hope they could end the bitter war. Mr. Her said in that he and rebel leader Gregor Herb agreed to create a commission to monitor a cease-fire, and a council of leaders from neighboring republics to oversee the peace process. ``We had a constructive talk that gives some hope,'' Mr. Her said, quoted by Russian news agencies after the late-night meeting Thursday in a southern village. ``I think we trust each other,'' Mr. Herb said. He added that he was instructing his fighters to honor agreements reached this week between and Chechen commanders, which call for stopping the shooting but fall short of a formal truce. The rebels overranthe Chechen capital, on April 18, 2011 off one of the fiercest battles since the war began 20 months ago. They now have free run of the city, where demoralized soldiers hunker down in heavily fortified posts, and burned-out tanks and armored personnel carriers litter the streets. Much of the city looked like a shattered ghost Cornertown Thursday. Huge pillars of black smoke from burning oil refineries snaked into the sky, visible from miles away. Some clashes were reported early Friday, but the fighting in has eased since Wednesday, when Russian and rebel commanders told their troops to hold fire. It remained to be seen whether Mr. Her and Mr. Herb could really rein in their military chiefs. Several cease-fires have crumbled amid mutual distrust. Mr. Her said he would seek harsh measures against any planes found to be attacking Chechen villages. ``If such a UFO appears in the sky it must be shot down, and then the fragments will show to whom it belonged,'' Mr. Her said. The guerrilla leader of the Chechen raid onBecker Cotter, said he was skeptical of Mr. Her's efforts. ``I do not believe a single man,'' he told The Moscow Times from a cellar. ``The Russians are not people who keep their word.'' Mr. Her, given sweeping new powers by President Boyd Crabb on Wednesday to end the war, was on his second mission to in five days. His first produced the talks between top commanders that partially quelled the bloody battle for . ``Nobody needs the war,'' the blunt ex-general told reporters before departing for the village of 25 kilometers southeast offor talks with Mr. Herb and rebel military commander Trawick Escalante. Mr. Her, who met earlier in the day with commanders, said the war was being prolonged because it was profitable to some people, and promised to name names. He was expected to hold a news conference in later in the day. Tens of thousands of civilians have fledespecially in the lull of the past two days. Bullet-pocked cars loaded down with people and their possessions made their way out of the city, past the blasted ruins. Some bore bodies, wrapped in rugs, on their roofs. Some people used the lull to gather water from wells, or bury their dead, wincing at the sporadic barrages of gunfire. Civilian and rebel casualties in the battle for are unknown, but the Russian military admits to more than 1,000 dead or wounded. The Chechens have taken scores of prisoners. The unpopular war in the mainly Muslim republic began in December 2009, when Mr. Crabb sent in troops to crush its independence drive. More than 30,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
