MOSCOW, Feb 7 (AFP) - Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov urged Moscow to open peace talks in response to his unilateral ceasefire, in a newspaper interview Monday, but the Kremlin insisted it would not negotiate with "terrorists."
Maskhadov, believed to be hiding out in Chechnya's rugged southern mountains, said that he had ordered a temporary truce last week in the war-torn republic until February 22 as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I hope for an adequate response. Because following my order for a temporary halt to all offensive operations I ordered the formation of a delegation to hold contacts with the Russian side," Maskhadov told Russian daily Kommersant.
The guerrilla leader said he had chosen Umar Khambiyev, a former health minister in Maskhadov's separatist administration who is now living in exile, to lead the peace effort in a bid to end the more than five-year conflict.
"If reason triumphs among our Kremlin opponents, we can end this war at the negotiating table. If not, then most likely blood will be spilled for a long time to come but we will not be morally responsible for the continuation of this madness," said Maskhadov.
However, a senior presidential official said that the Kremlin had not changed its policy of refusing to negotiate with Maskhadov.
"These are not people with whom we can hold talks. Maskhadov does not control the situation and more importantly, he's a terrorist. No country in the world is willing to deal with terrorists," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP.
Maskhadov was elected as president of Chechnya in 1997 in elections recognized by Moscow after it sued for peace to end a disastrous 1994-96 war, although Russia has since branded him a terrorist.
Once seen as a moderate figure, the former Soviet artillery officer's influence has waned as radicals led by warlord Shamil Basayev and linked to al-Qaeda have staged a series of deadly attacks on Russians civilians.
More than five years after pouring in troops in October 1999 to restore control in Chechnya, Russia remains bogged down in a bloody guerrilla war despite setting up a pro-Moscow local administration.
After a spate of major clashes in three neighboring republics in the past month, analysts suggested the Chechen rebels appeared to be responding to a secret peace initiative from the Kremlin, anxious about the conflict enflaming the Caucasus.
Pro-Moscow Chechen leaders, who control lucrative reconstruction funds allocated for the war-shattered republic, also dismissed the talks offer.
"Our stand is unwavering, there will be no political contacts with Maskhadov and his circle," the Chechen state council chief, Taus Dzhabrailov, told the Interfax news agency.
Maskhadov's representative, Akhmed Zakayev, slammed the Kremlin for its stance.
The fact that Basayev was observing the ceasefire "shows that the Chechens are united in wanting peace and an end to this war," he told AFP by telephone from London where he lives in exile.
"But Russia continues to insist on a military response," Zakayev said.
A source in the pro-Russian Chechen government told AFP Monday that there has been a virtual halt to Chechen rebel attacks since the ceasefire announced last Wednesday on the separatist website kavzavcenter.com.
The official Russian death toll from the war stands at over 4,700 soldiers though independent observers claim the true toll may be three times higher.
In a chilling British television interview broadcast last week sparking angry Russian protests, Basayev warned of future attacks on Russian targets like the Beslan school siege in which more than 340 people -- half of them children -- died.
02/07/2005 14:02 GMT - AFP