TERRORISM Russia raps West for Chechens' haven

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's foreign minister criticized Western countries for granting asylum to Chechen separatists, whom Moscow blames for last week's bloody school hostage taking, saying the practice weakens global anti-terror efforts, according to an interview published today.
Sergey Lavrov's comments in the Vremya Novostei newspaper reflected longtime Russian anger over what Moscow sees as the West's receptiveness to Chechen militants accused of a string of recent terrorist attacks.
The attacks -- the downing of two airliners apparently by explosions, a suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway station and last week's school hostage-taking in the town of Beslan that ended in more than 300 deaths -- prompted officials to offer a huge cash reward for information leading to the killing or capture of top Chechen rebel leaders and a pledge to go after terrorists all over the world.
Discounts criticism
Russia consistently brushes off criticism that its policies in Chechnya and the brutality of its troops there feed resentment that boosts support for rebels waging a five-year insurgency. The Kremlin instead contends that the militants are trained and supported by international terrorist groups, like Al-Qaida.
"Granting asylum to people involved in terrorism -- and Russia has documented evidence of this -- not only causes us regret but also effectively undermines the unity of the anti-terrorist coalition," Lavrov was quoted as saying.
For example
Russian officials have been particularly angered by Britain's granting of asylum to Akhmed Zakayev, an envoy for Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, and the United States' granting of asylum to Ilyas Akhmadov, who was foreign minister under Maskhadov during Chechnya's de-facto independence in the late 1990s.
"It is enough to recall Akhmed Zakayev's statement made from London, in which he plainly and bluntly and without any intricacies blamed what happened in Beslan on the Russian leadership. I believe the cynicism of this statement is clear to everybody," Lavrov said.
"We are far from accusing the leaders of major countries ... of deliberately preserving this double standard," he said. "But the inertia is still very strong."
On Wednesday, the Federal Security Service offered a reward of $10.3 million for information that could help "neutralize" Maskhadov and another Chechen separatist leader.
News of the reward offer came as Russia's top military commander, Col.-Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, said, "We will take all measures to liquidate terrorist bases in any region of the world," including launching pre-emptive strikes.
Flexing muscles
Russian leaders have asserted the right to act preemptively before, flexing the nuclear-armed former superpower's muscles and tacitly threatening tiny neighboring Georgia that they would pursue Chechen rebels allegedly sheltering on its territory.
Two Russian agents were convicted this year in Qatar for a February car bombing there that killed another Chechen rebel leader, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. Russia, however, has denied involvement in the killing.
The European Union, already at odds with the Bush administration over pre-emptive military strikes, reacted cautiously to the military chief's statement. EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin suggested it was unclear whether the remarks reflected official Russian policy, saying "we have not heard anything similar from President Putin himself."
Said it before
Putin's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said more than once that Russia could use pre-emptive strikes to counter security threats.
Udwin said the EU opposes "extra-judicial killings" in the form of pre-emptive strikes. Some European governments expressed concern, but British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Moscow's reaction was "understandable" and within international law.