Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov called Tuesday on the West to mediate an end to his Muslim republic's war against Russian forces, even as the separatists' top warlord vowed unstinting resistance. The Kavkazcenter Internet site released a statement by ousted Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov calling for peace. But it also broadcast a video by Russia's enemy number one Shamil Basayev proclaiming an endless campaign.
Pro-Moscow Chechen leaders said the exchange was a farce and once again offered Maskhadov a chance to give up.
The conflicting rebel statements reflected infighting within the Chechen resistance and a struggle over strategy in a conflict that has spanned more than a decade of on and off warfare that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Maskhadov said in his statement that he "confirms a commitment to civilised methods of resolving difficult political questions standing in the way of the Russian Federation and the Chechen republic."
The Chechen rebel leadership was "willing to demonstrate its desire for peace and calls on the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the democratic governments of Europe and the United States to change their stance" and help end the war, he said.
The pro-Russian leaders of Chechnya and Kremlin officials have dismissed Maskhadov's calls while President Vladimir Putin - the latest war's architect - has refused himself to comment on the peace offers after proclaiming the war over and won on repeated occasions.
"We cannot talk about negotiations with those who are involved in bloody deeds," pro-Moscow Chechen leader Alu Alkhanov was quoted as saying by Interfax.
Only one official round of peace negotiations was held during the second war launched in October 1999. It ended with Moscow demanding unconditional surrender. The Kremlin has since insisted it will hold no further talks with "terrorists." But Russia received a stark reminder of the relentless unrest in its Caucasus region with the reappearance of Basayev on the Internet Tuesday.
The bearded warlord slammed a knife into his artificial right leg several times in Kavkazcenter footage, dated Sunday, as he vowed that his followers would keep on fighting the Russians even after his death.
"I do not understand how the stronger side, and the Chechen side is the stronger side, can simply end a war," said the thickly-bearded Basayev, dressed in a camouflaged army outfit.
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