Crossfire War - 49 Islamic Militants Surrender in Chechnya Including Commanders

By Willard Payne

Crossfire War - MOSCOW WATCH - North Caucasus Theatre: Moscow/Tehran; 49 Militants Surrender in Gudermes - Chechnya - Field Commander Says He will Persuade Others

Night Watch: GUDERMES - Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen Prime Minister, appointed by Moscow stated, "In all, 49 men have voluntarily surrendered, among them 'emirs' of various districts." An emir was a title given by Islamic militant groups to a district field commander. One of them, Ali Suleimenov, said he will persuade others to do the same provided they have not killed anyone. The north Caucasus have seen heavy fighting since 1994. Some disillusionment may be setting in among some of the Islamic militant units. Recently one of their senior commanders was killed in Dagestan. [XINHUA]

Though Tehran and other Islamic capitals support groups opposed to Moscow this is not a front Tehran has given top priority. I suspect Iran believes they can eventually come to arrangements with Russia that will be of mutual benefit to both countries as they divide up the resources of the region. Most of Tehran's war effort is directed at the West and India, which is why Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific affairs, Mehdi Safari is currently making a comtemptuous visit to Delhi to explain what Tehran calls its "peaceful nuclear program." It is not directed at Russia. [IRNA]

Night Watch Information Service
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