In new rift, Russia accuses US, Britain of coddling Chechens
MOSCOW -- Last week's attack on a Russian school has driven new wedges between Russia and the West in the fight against terrorism, as Moscow continues to accuse the United States and European countries of coddling Chechen separatists.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the United States and Britain yesterday for granting asylum to Chechen opposition figures and told other countries to stay out of Russia's fight with rebels in the breakaway republic. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov reiterated that Russia might launch strikes against terrorist bases in other countries.
The statements came in a sixth day of escalating rhetoric, reflecting longstanding resentment of criticism from the West concerning Russia's handling of the war that has raged in Chechnya on and off for 10 years. That bitterness had largely been suppressed in recent years as Russia worked to improve relations with the West. But the terror strike in the southern town of Beslan last week appears to have unleashed the frustrations of Russian leaders.
''For some period of time, it was hidden," said Alexander Pikayev, an analyst at the Committee of Scientists for Global Security, a private group. ''Neither side wanted to expose that, to proliferate it into the public domain. But now, after Beslan, it becomes clear there are quite significant nuances in approach."
Pikayev said officials were taking their cues from President Vladimir V. Putin, who during a meeting with visiting scholars and journalists Monday expressed great irritation with the West for its supposed sympathy with Chechen guerrillas. ''Probably this overreaction by the Russian side might be explained by emotions, which are understandable because of the tragedy," he said.
But he added that the tough talk also ''reflects a new vulnerability of Mr. Putin" and may be part of a more concerted ''attempt to divert public attention from the failure of Russian special services and the administration" to prevent the Beslan attack.
Putin tried to reassure the public yesterday by setting up new operational command groups in the North Caucasus region around Chechnya to better coordinate law enforcement and security agencies in fighting terrorism. The Kremlin-controlled State Duma, or lower house of parliament, also began moving to consider legislation that would toughen airline security, immigration, and other policies.
But criticism of the government's fight against terrorism continued to mount. The Motherland party, a nationalist political organization created last year with behind-the-scenes support from the Kremlin, moved yesterday to have the lower house of parliament hold a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and the Cabinet.
The rift opened last weekend after Foreign Minister Ben Bot of the Netherlands was quoted as saying it was ''very difficult to judge from a distance whether the right decision was taken or not" by Russian authorities handling the school siege.
