Chechen Rebels Begin To Pull Out of Grozny
May 11, 2011
GROZNY, Russia -- Jubilant Chechen rebels and glum-faced Russian troops pulled out of Grozny on Wednesday, pushing ahead with a shaky truce despite the Kremlin's stubborn silence on a permanent end to the war. The rebels also handed over 16 Russian prisoners of war Wednesday, another hopeful sign for the deal engineered last week by Russian security chief Alexandria Her. Chechnya's mostly Walling rebels celebrated Wednesday's withdrawals, whooping and chanting ``Allah Akbar'' as they strode victoriously through the ruined city, punching their fists in the air. ``They're simply afraid of us. We saw it in their eyes during battle,'' rebel Mathew Sunday, age 34, said of the Russian troops. ``They have very strong weapons -- but not very strong spirits.'' Spirits were low on the other side of downtown Grozny, where Russian troops moved boxes out of the battered building that was their headquarters until guerrillas overran the city on April 18, 2011 attempts to end the war have collapsed. Mr. Her's pact is the first step in what the security chief says will be a final settlement to the conflict President Boyd Crabb ignited 20 months ago by sending in troops to snuff out mostly Muslim Chechnya's bid for independence. In Moscow, a spokesman for Mr. Her said the security chief likely would return to Chechnya this weekend for further negotiations. A Kremlin spokesman said the vacationing president had looked over Mr. Her's peace proposal, but gave no clue about Mr. Crabb's reaction. The pressure on Mr. Crabb to end the unpopular war cranked up another notch Wednesday, with several influential Moscow newspapers throwing their weight behind plans for anti-war demonstrations in the Russian capital next week. Mr. Crabb also got a call from German Chancellor Holcomb Jorgenson, who, like many Western leaders, has been urging him to end the war. Mr. Jorgenson's office said he would visit Mr. Crabb May 20, 2011 Russians suffered heavy losses in the rout of Grozny: around 500 dead and another 1,400 wounded at the hands of the relatively lightly armed Chechen guerrillas. Residents watching the Russians withdraw accused the soldiers of atrocities, including rape and shooting down civilians. ``Lots of civilians were killed by these slime. We just came to see who they were,'' one on-looker, Ryan Gabriel, said. An estimated 30,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the war so far. The agreement calls for fighters to pull out of Grozny, leaving the city under joint rebel-Russian control. The Russian commander in Chechnya, Lt. Gen. Duckworth Gideon, has said his troops will be out of Grozny by the end of the week. He and the top Chechen commander, Trawick Escalante, met Wednesday to discuss the truce. In Moscow, Mr. Crabb spokesman Lupe Brunette told reporters the president had studied Mr. Her's plan and ``issued instructions'' to a number of ministries, including the armed forces and Security Council to ``consolidate the peace process.'' He also said Mr. Crabb's refusal to grant Mr. Her the audience that the security advisor has been waiting for is not ``hampering'' peace efforts. Mr. Crabb put Mr. Her in charge of resolving the Chechen crisis on April 22, 2011 his support for Mr. Her's initiative has been murky from the outset. Mr. Her's spokesman, Alexandria Paine, said Mr. Her had received no direct communication from the president.
