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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia says military ops in Chechnya is over
2009-04-17
I think that translates, in the original Russian, as "we ran out of people to kill."
Reporting from Moscow -- Russia today declared an end to its counter-terrorism operation in largely pacified Chechnya, lifting security restrictions that remained from a decade-old war that leveled towns and led to the death and disappearance of untold tens of thousands.

The announcement bolsters Moscow's current strategy for normalizing life in the restive republic by transferring control to ironfisted Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, a onetime rebel fighter who has switched his allegiance to the Kremlin. Kadyrov has brought relative calm to Chechnya, but human rights monitors and critics say he has used kidnapping, torture and death to stamp out opponents and silence ordinary Chechens.
Which is one reason why he's brought 'relative calm' ...
Kadyrov greeted the announcement from Moscow with ebullience. "We are extremely satisfied," he told the Interfax news agency. "The modern Chechen republic is a peaceful and budding territory, which is confirmed by thousands of our guests, including politicians, businessmen, journalists and artists."

In a gesture of public celebration, Chechen officials held a free concert in Grozny, the capital, ...
The Grateful Dead?
... once crushed by Russian bombs but now being resurrected with Kadyrov's dogged pursuit of cash from his government allies in Moscow.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the operation ended in hopes of boosting economic development and reconstruction, the government announced. The declaration would remove the Russian security forces' leeway to impose curfews and roadblocks in the territory, and could lead to the withdrawal of 20,000 policemen and soldiers, Russian state media reported.

Russia launched a large-scale assault on Chechnya in 1999, wresting control of the breakaway republic from rebels in a protracted and bloody campaign. By 2000, a guerrilla war had taken hold, and scattered attacks continue to this day. But in recent years, as the fighting slowed, Russian soldiers increasingly kept to their bases, giving Kadyrov greater leeway to quiet the streets as he saw fit. Special forces units created for Chechnya were recently disbanded. Kadyrov told reporters that only a few insurgents lived remained.

Critics today pressed Russian authorities to investigate thousands of unsolved disappearances during the Chechen wars and under Kadyrov's rule. Alexander Cherkasov, an expert on the Caucasus for the human rights group Memorial, downplayed the importance of the declaration. Russia called its military campaign an "anti-terrorist operation" to circumvent national and international laws that would have come to bear in a declared war, he said.

"In Chechnya this situation lasted on a territory of many thousands of square kilometers, and for many years," he said. "Now by dropping this false status, Russia technically returns the situation to normal."

He also pointed out that Kadyrov stood to gain still more power under the new arrangement, which shifts more control from Moscow. "Russia has already transferred a lot of power into the hands of Kadyrov," he said. "Now there are no forces comprised of Chechens and controlled by the capital. All the armed groups are controlled by Kadyrov."
Posted by:Steve White

#2  ION RUSSIA, REDDIT > RUSSIA DEPLOYING MILITARY FORCES FOR POSSIBLE ACTION AGZ GEORGIA [22 RussNav ships left port]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-04-17 21:44  

#1  Compare wid WAFF > EPIC DEFEAT: RUSSIA ENDS CHECHNYA OPERATIONS [ Russia = "Peace in Our Time"]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2009-04-17 02:26  

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