gelatik
09.03.02, 00:26
MOSCOW, March 8 - Russia reacted angrily Thursday to U.S. criticism of human
rights abuses in Chechnya. Warnings surfaced of a plot to undermine Russian
President Vladimir Putin's pro-Western policy in the wake of spats over
Georgia, NATO, and steel tariffs.
The Russian foreign ministry branded a U.S. State Department report, attacking
Russian rights violations in the 29-month Chechen war, "outdated" because "the
events of September 11 had transformed relations between Moscow and
Washington," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The statement expressed "astonishment, to put it mildly" at the tone of the
U.S. State Department's annual rights report, which coincides with growing anti-
Americanism in Moscow due to perceived snubs to Russian prestige.
"We have the impression that the report's authors have merely reproduced old
cliches as if nothing had happened in Russia or the United States," the
statement continued.
It was "as if the events of September 11 had not taken place and as if the
international community was not united in the fight against terrorism," the
foreign ministry added.
Russia has repeatedly alleged links between independence claiming activists in
Chechnya and Al-Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden, in an effort to win
support for its controversial war in the North Caucasus.
Putin's unprecedented support for the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign in
Afghanistan has drawn criticism from Russian hard-liners opposed to the
presence of American troops on former Soviet territory in Central Asia.
The risks underlying Putin's pro-Western alignment were highlighted this week
by Russian anger at a planned U.S. military deployment in Georgia, a
disagreement with NATO over a new security partnership and the row over U.S.
steel tariffs.
The U.S. rights report on Chechnya listed disappearances, extra-judicial
killings, torture and detentions, among other violations committed by Russian
federal troops against Chechens.
The Russian foreign ministry described the report's "passage on Chechnya as
especially odious". It warned Thursday, March 7, of a conspiracy to block U.S.-
Russian rapprochement
