2001 Amir Shamil Basayev; Negotiations or «negotiations»?

Negotiations or «negotiations»?

18/01/2001

Amir (Commander) of the Supreme Military Madzhlisul Shura of the Mujahideen, Shamil Basayev has addressed the editors of «Kavkaz Center» with the special statement concerning the negotiations between representatives of President Maskhadov and Putin that took place last year and possibly will take place in the future.«Kavkaz-Center» has published the full text of the statement of Amir of the Supreme Military Madzhlisul Shura of the Mujahideen, Shamil Basayev. The statement has been delivered to the editors by the special courier from Ichkeria.

Bismillahi-Rahmani-Rahim! (In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!)

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, Who made us Muslims and blessed us with Jihad on His Straight Path!

Peace and blessings to Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), His Family, his disciples and all of those who follow him till the Judgement Day!

And then:

Almighty Allah (SWT) in the Holy Koran says: «And if they shall incline to peace, you shall incline to peace also, and rely on Allah, for He is the Hearing, the Knowing!» (The Spoils, 61)

Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h.) said: «Any condition that is not in the Koran is invalid, even if there might be a hundred of those conditions».In the month of November a meeting of A.Zakayev and Kazantsev was held at the Moscow Airport, while Putin was visiting America.The Supreme Military Madzhlisul Shura of the Mujahideen expressed dissatisfaction with that meeting. For that reason, some bad politicians started to blame us in unwillingness to stop the war and establish peace in our land.

Also, many Muslims have been asking us to explain the reason for our negative opinion about that meeting. We are giving a brief explanation of our position and reasons for our dissatisfaction.Shari’ah has a stipulation that conducting of any negotiations should result in consolidation of Islam and strengthening of the Islamic Ummah (Nation). Accordingly, during the preparations and choosing the place and form of conducting negotiations it is necessary to hold on to the same conditions, namely:

First meeting must be conducted with no preliminary conditions from the side of kafirs (infidels, unbelievers) and they must officially declare it, instead of screaming all over the world that only conditions of surrendering weapons by the Chechen side will be discussed. That actually points to the goal of Russists (Russian side)- that they are not searching for peace but extracting a benefit for themselves and harming our side. Therefore there is no sense to have a meeting with them.If Russians are declaring that they will conduct negotiations only with those «whose hands are not besmirched with blood», then the Chechen side had to declare that it will conduct negotiations only with those whose «face is not besmirched with blood».

Once they refused to demand the same, President Maskhadov and Zakayev, actually before the negotiations started, acknowledged themselves as the side with no rights. As though there were some who were «not too besmirched» and that could be «washed off». They also acknowledged that «Russist» boar Kazantsev, whose face is up to the ears besmirched with blood of Chechen people, is the side that has the rights including the rights to keep pouring blood of our people.Time and form of conducting negotiations must be chosen by both sides.

It cannot be postponed with no serious reasons and it cannot be scheduled according to Putin's tours.Chechen side had no choice but to play the role of a panhandler and during the whole month wait for the news on TV when Kazantsev will finally spare his «precious» time. Zakayev had to learn the lesson from May 1996 when he (and the number of others) was a hostage in Moscow, while Yeltsin was gone to Khankala.The place for conducting negotiations shows how serious the negotiations are and how the accepting side treats them. Even mid-level businessmen never set up appointments in the waiting hall at the airport.

Only small-time scam artists would do such a thing so that they could pose as VIPs cheaply and more easily. This way they would create an inconvenient and hasty environment for a dummy, impelling him to make a mistake that they need. In case of unsuccess, it would be easy to get off the hook, - and go figure.The issue of war and peace must be solved by anybody but the Ministry of Culture. And for the meeting on such a level it was enough to delegate a leader of one of the departments of the Foreign Ministry of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.Mujahideen, and their leaders in particular, must be at least in touch with the subject of the negotiations and their results. All of this cannot be a secret for those who actually fight and on whom depends the issue of war and peace. We will not accept the results of separate negotiations and will not allow anybody to make decisions about our destiny without us.If Zakayev had a serious intension to discuss the results of the meeting with Mujahideen, then he was obligated to immediately set the conditions for the negotiations:

Russians must stop any active military operations for a week and take down certain checkpoints so that the Resistance leaders could freely travel in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. That had not been done. And after Maskhadov declared about the meeting to discuss the negotiations, parts of Vedeno and Nozhai-Yurt districts were blocked by Russians with a large number of troops for this year. During a month and a half, «in search for the leaders of the militants» the people were constantly being terrorized and robbed.That's all the results of the meeting at the airport.We are not against the negotiations. We are against half-and-half illiterate decisions that lead to the deviation from Shari’ah requirements, loss of freedom earned in bloody battles, and the split among Muslims.The hardest part of the war, Insha'Allah (God willing), is left behind and the time is on our side. We are getting stronger day after day and the resistance of our people against the invaders is growing. We just have to calmly, patiently, trying to avoid previous mistakes, lead the Jihad to the complete victory and by the mercy of Allah (SWT) we will win!The Almighty Allah says in the Koran: «How often a small group, by the will of Allah, has won a numerous group! Indeed, Allah is with the patient!» (Baqara, The Cow, 249)

The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said: «...but remember that Allah will bring to abstinence from all evil only those who will strive towards it; He will enrich those who will not need help from others and He will give power to endure to those who will show endurance, for no one has received a better and more generous gift than patience!»

May Allah (SWT) help us on His Straight Path!

Allahu Akbar!!!

Amir of the Supreme Military Madzhlisul Shura of the Mujahideen
Abdullah Shamil Basayev.

Johar- Grozny, January 18, 2001