MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechnya's leaders believe that talks with separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov and his foreign envoy Akhmed Zakayev would be useless.
"Neither Akhmed Zakayev, nor his boss Aslan Maskhadov control illegal paramilitary formations," Chechen State Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov told a news conference at the Interfax main office on Tuesday.
"Since the beginning of the 1999 military campaign, the actual leader of the illegal paramilitary formations, the man who controls the financial flows, masterminds and carries out the terrorist acts, is Shamil Basayev," he said.
As for the efforts of the Soldiers' Mothers Committee to engage in talks with Zakayev, he said they would bring no results.
"Neither Zakayev nor Maskhadov have any influence on Basayev. Whatever they decide, their decisions are not binding on Shamil Basayev," Dzhabrailov said.
The result of a possible meeting between soldiers' mothers and Zakayev will be a "still-born child," he said.
"Zakayev, as the person involved in the talks, does not fit the aims and tasks set by the soldiers' mothers," Dzhabrailov said.