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| Caucasus |
| U.S. Sanctions On Chechen Groups Effective Friday: Officials |
| 2003-02-28 |
| The U.S. on Friday, February 28, slapped "terrorism sanctions" on three Chechen fighters groups, freezing any assets they may have in the United States and declaring them a threat to U.S. citizens. The groups, all of which were implicated in a deadly hostage-taking incident in Moscow last year, were deemed by Secretary of State Colin Powell to "have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States," security and foreign policy. Yep. That sounds like the Chechens... The sanctions took effect as Powell's designation appeared in Friday's edition of the Federal Register, a government gazette. The groups affected are the Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs, the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment and the Islamic International Brigade, although each has a variety of aliases, according to the U.S. officials. Diplomatic sources said last week that the three groups were the Battalion of Kamikaze Shahid, the Congress of Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan and the United Force of Caucasian Mujahideen. Although all three are led by the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who took responsibility for the hostage-taking, State Department officials said their names did not match those in the list to be published in the Federal Register on Friday. "Those are not the names according to my list," one official said. That official, however, would not rule out the possibility that the groups to be designated used aliases for those three organizations. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 I suppose the deal is: No Russian veto and we'll look the other way if you bomb the hell out of Chechnya. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-02-28 15:10:39 |
| #1 Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs - what the hell good is a recon martyr? "Did he report back yet? No, and I don't think he will" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-02-28 14:06:52 |