Arab link to Beslan School tragedy
323 hostages, including 156 children, were killed in the Beslan school take-over, in North Ossetia, Russia. More than 500 people remain hospitalized, and many are unaccounted for. The official story is that Russian forces decided to break the siege at the last minute in reaction to the militants’ actions in response to an escape attempt by a few school children.
Military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer claims this is a fabrication meant to cover up the disastrous outcome of what he believes was a planned assault. Just as in the hostage-taking drama at the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in October 2002, he accuses the authorities of hiding the truth from the Russian public. He notes, the authorities misled everyone about how many hostages there were, intentionally diminishing their number several times over. They lied, saying that the hostage takers had refused to conduct negotiations when, in fact, it was the Russian authorities who refused to hold talks from the very start, just as in the Dubrovka case, when they also refused to conduct negotiations. They lied, saying that the hostage takers had no demands when, in fact, they had demanded that President [Vladimir] Putin sign a decree withdrawing Russian forces from Chechnya."
There is also question of who perpetrated the siege. One of the survivors captors pointed the finger at Aslan Maskhadov, a leader of Chechen separatism. Maskhadov has denied responsibility. Local officials have pointed to an Ingush component, raising fears of ethnic tensions in the region. Ingush and North Osetia, neighboring republics, have long had acrimonious relations and fought a short war in 1992 that resulted in 600 deaths.
Then there is the implication that this event was an al-qaeda connection. Similarly to President Bush remarks after Sept 11th, 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the massacre as "an attack on our country." (CNN.com 9/4/04), implying indirectly that these are acts conducted by forces outside Russia. Putin has long contended that Arab terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, have played a role in the violence in Chechnya, where a majority of people are Muslim. Russia's Security Service reported that 10 of the hostage-takers at the school were Arabs, a claim that if substantiated would boost Putin's assertions. Russian authorities said Friday that they believed the siege was masterminded by Chechnya's most notorious warlord, Shamil Basayev, an Islamic militant whose funding channels are believed linked with al Qaeda's. (sfgate.com 9/4/04).
This link is credible, yet one should recall that the origins of al-qaeda trace back to the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan against USSR in the 80s. The mujahideen gathered muslim combatants from all over the muslim world, and provided an embryo of organization and financing for al-qaeda as fighters dispersed in the early 90s. Many made their way to Yemen and Sudan, others journeyed to a new "front" of Islamic resistance: Albania, Bosnia, Dagestan and Chechnya.
The Islamist lawyer Montasser al-Zayyat points out that Putin "wants to gain the sympathy of the international community, in saying he is not crushing a people but is fighting international terrorism which strikes the United States and Europe. However, in Chechnya it is national liberation movements which are aspiring to independence. The Islamic credentials of these movements have brought them the support of Islamist groups whose fighters have joined them. But at heart the movements remain nationalist." (Turkish Press.com 9/7/04) Their national libertation nature does not in any degree justify the siege of Beslan school. However, if Putin and Russia is to find a solution to the tensions in the southern caucus region, the source and causes of instability must be understood. This is analogous to the claims that the resistance to US occupation in Iraq is the responsability of Saddam loyalists (unlikely, as his regime crumbled with US invasion) or foreign fighters (if nothing else, the guerrilla tactics reflect a deep knowledge of the terrain and popular ties), rather than a deep rejection on the part of Iraqi nationals. Afterall, the persecuted forces led by the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are deeply Iraqi.
Military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer claims this is a fabrication meant to cover up the disastrous outcome of what he believes was a planned assault. Just as in the hostage-taking drama at the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in October 2002, he accuses the authorities of hiding the truth from the Russian public. He notes, the authorities misled everyone about how many hostages there were, intentionally diminishing their number several times over. They lied, saying that the hostage takers had refused to conduct negotiations when, in fact, it was the Russian authorities who refused to hold talks from the very start, just as in the Dubrovka case, when they also refused to conduct negotiations. They lied, saying that the hostage takers had no demands when, in fact, they had demanded that President [Vladimir] Putin sign a decree withdrawing Russian forces from Chechnya."
There is also question of who perpetrated the siege. One of the survivors captors pointed the finger at Aslan Maskhadov, a leader of Chechen separatism. Maskhadov has denied responsibility. Local officials have pointed to an Ingush component, raising fears of ethnic tensions in the region. Ingush and North Osetia, neighboring republics, have long had acrimonious relations and fought a short war in 1992 that resulted in 600 deaths.
Then there is the implication that this event was an al-qaeda connection. Similarly to President Bush remarks after Sept 11th, 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the massacre as "an attack on our country." (CNN.com 9/4/04), implying indirectly that these are acts conducted by forces outside Russia. Putin has long contended that Arab terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, have played a role in the violence in Chechnya, where a majority of people are Muslim. Russia's Security Service reported that 10 of the hostage-takers at the school were Arabs, a claim that if substantiated would boost Putin's assertions. Russian authorities said Friday that they believed the siege was masterminded by Chechnya's most notorious warlord, Shamil Basayev, an Islamic militant whose funding channels are believed linked with al Qaeda's. (sfgate.com 9/4/04).
This link is credible, yet one should recall that the origins of al-qaeda trace back to the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan against USSR in the 80s. The mujahideen gathered muslim combatants from all over the muslim world, and provided an embryo of organization and financing for al-qaeda as fighters dispersed in the early 90s. Many made their way to Yemen and Sudan, others journeyed to a new "front" of Islamic resistance: Albania, Bosnia, Dagestan and Chechnya.
The Islamist lawyer Montasser al-Zayyat points out that Putin "wants to gain the sympathy of the international community, in saying he is not crushing a people but is fighting international terrorism which strikes the United States and Europe. However, in Chechnya it is national liberation movements which are aspiring to independence. The Islamic credentials of these movements have brought them the support of Islamist groups whose fighters have joined them. But at heart the movements remain nationalist." (Turkish Press.com 9/7/04) Their national libertation nature does not in any degree justify the siege of Beslan school. However, if Putin and Russia is to find a solution to the tensions in the southern caucus region, the source and causes of instability must be understood. This is analogous to the claims that the resistance to US occupation in Iraq is the responsability of Saddam loyalists (unlikely, as his regime crumbled with US invasion) or foreign fighters (if nothing else, the guerrilla tactics reflect a deep knowledge of the terrain and popular ties), rather than a deep rejection on the part of Iraqi nationals. Afterall, the persecuted forces led by the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are deeply Iraqi.
posted by André Levy @ 2:22 PM
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