by Maxim Kniazkov
WASHINGTON - The United States, wary of spreading unrest in the North Caucasus, is for the first time considering development aid to the violence-torn region seen as one of Russia's most vulnerable fringes, a senior administration official said.
"As the situation on the ground allows, we will look for opportunities to provide development assistance to people in the North Caucasus," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State John Tefft told Congress Tuesday.
No specific amounts, projects, or prospective recipients were mentioned.
But the official expressed general displeasure with Russia's handling of the situation in the region, pointing out that although both Moscow and Washington share a desire for stability, Russia "appears to interpret stability in a fundamentally different way."
The United States, acting through international and non-governmental organizations, has provided millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to refugees and other victims of the Chechen conflict over the years.
But development aid specifically targeting the troubled region has not been high on the agenda thus far, according to foreign policy experts.
If implemented, the experts said, the plan would offer an alternative financial lifeline to North Caucasus republics, now fully dependent on Moscow.
The announcement came as the Kremlin celebrated a long-awaited breakthrough in its fight against Chechen separatists -- the killing of rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was found dead in a bunker in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt following an operation by Russian special forces earlier Tuesday.
The feat, however, appeared to have done little to alleviate US concerns over the explosive situation in the region, where a cluster of Russian republics have to cope with simmering insurgencies, burgeoning organized crime and decrepit economies.
"Conflict appears to be spreading across the North Caucasus, due to a combination of terrorist activities, religious extremism, criminality, and the weakness of state structures in the region," Tefft told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher pointed to the need to add "a political aspect" to efforts to find a solution to the Chechen problem.
In an indication of trouble cropping up beyond Chechnya, Russian security forces have recently raided locations in Kabardino-Balkaria and neighboring Karachaevo-Cherkessia in an alleged bid to eliminate local radical Islamist cells.
Pro-Russian leaders face growing political unrest in North Ossetia and Ingushetia, while in Daghestan, two top local government officials barely escaped an attempt on their lives last month.
With violence on the rise throughout the region, the administration of President George W. Bush also expressed disappointment over Russia's move in December that forced the Organization for Security and Cooperation to close a monitoring mission on the border between North Ossetia and South Ossetia, a breakaway Georgian republic.
The maneuver, undertaken at an OSCE summit in Bulgaria, is largely seen here as Moscow's attempt to keep the Roki Tunnel open for shipment of weapons to pro-Moscow separatists in South Ossetia.
"We believe this monitoring operation has played an important role in deterring the possible movement of international terrorists and Chechen fighters between Russian and Georgia," Tefft pointed out while calling on Moscow to "stop obstructing" the OSCE.
He also urged Russia to reach agreement with Georgia on the status and future of remaining Russian military bases in Georgia.
03/09/2005 06:07 GMT