MOSCOW. Nov 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechnya's Deputy Prime Minister Bilkhis Baidayeva believes Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov might surrender if certain conditions are fulfilled.
"If conditions were created that will enable him to somehow keep face, he would come and turn himself in to the authorities. In addition, as he has allegedly been a militant leader and still considers himself president of Ichkeria, it is now difficult for him to come in and surrender," Baidayeva told reporters in Moscow on Friday.
Baidayeva believes another reason why Maskhadov is reluctant to surrender is that "he has been fighting for so many years and no one wants to negotiate with him."
Maskhadov currently has no influence on the situation in Chechnya, Baidayeva said. "I believe neither Maskhadov nor Zakayev are controlling the situation now," she said.
"As a result of the recent amnesties, militants who have not committed any grave crimes have been amnestied and have gone home. Those militants who are currently in the mountains and whom Maskhadov and Zakayev allegedly represent are virtually mercenaries funded from abroad," she said.
In addition, Baidayeva said she believes the initiative of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committee to conduct negotiations with Akhmed Zakayev, Maskhadov's emissary in the UK, is pointless. "The main role is currently played by Basayev, and I don't think the Soldiers' Mothers Committee wants to meet with him," Baidayeva said.