Gadji Makhachev, who is Daghestan's formal representative in Moscow, issued a
statement
on October 18 distancing himself from comments he was quoted as having
made at a roundtable discussion in Moscow two days earlier of the
repeated incursions into Daghestan by Chechen militants in the summer
of 1999.
RIA Novosti issued two separate reports late on October
16, one of which quoted Makhachev as having said at the roundtable that
following the murder on June 5 of Daghestan's Interior Minister
Lieutenant General Adilgirey Magomedtagirov, he had advocated
recruiting the relatives of Interior Ministry personnel slain by the
Islamic resistance to undertake revenge killings of militants "in
accordance with the law of the mountains."
Makhachev is also
said to have proposed forming self-defense detachments in every village
to ward off militant attacks. That, Makhachev is quoted as arguing, "is
the only way to restore order." It would simultaneously, he pointed
out, furnish an occupation for unemployed young men who otherwise would
spend the entire day sitting around playing cards.
The second report, judging by its title as quoted on October 18 by
kavkaz-uzel.ru,
quoted Makhachev as criticizing the law enforcement agencies for their
conduct of "special operations" against suspected militants. The
victims of such operations are not infrequently posthumously proven to
be innocent of any ties with the insurgents. Both those reports were
subsequently removed from the RIA Novosti website.
RIA
Daghestan then posted on October 18 a formal statement by Makhachev in
which he admitted having had an "informal discussion" with one of the
roundtable participants (whom he did not identify by name) in which he
gave a negative assessment of what he termed attempts by religious
extremists to exact revenge for their defeat in 1999. But he said no
journalist was present during that discussion, and he expressed
incomprehension how the media were tipped off about what he said.
Makhachev
further affirmed that what Daghestan currently needs is not
"retribution squads," but the "consolidation of all healthy forces" in
the battle against terrorism and extremism. He also denied having
expressed any "blanket criticism" of the law enforcement agencies.
Makhachev
said he proposed (whether during the roundtable or the subsequent
conversation is not clear) that those Daghestanis who played an active
role in repelling the Chechen incursions in 1999 be co-opted to
inculcate a sense of patriotism in the younger generation, who might
otherwise fall under the influence of the radical Islamic resistance.
He further argued against declaring a republic-wide counterterror
operation, and accused those who advocate doing so of seeking to
"destabilize the situation."
Whether the statements RIA Novosti
attributed to Makhachev were partially true, and if not, whether their
publication was a deliberate attempt to discredit him, and to what end,
remains unclear.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Daghestans_Moscow_Representative_Denies_Advocating_Death_Squads/1855737.html
