Chechen Independence Head Takes Part In Polish TV Debate-AFP
"Morningstar",
December 11, 2007
Poland risked the ire of Russia Tuesday after Chechen independence icon Akhmed Zakayev, who is wanted by Moscow on terrorism charges, appeared on a talk show on Polish public television.
Zakayev came to Poland to take part in an edition of the popular program " Warto Rozmawiac" (Worth Talking), which was broadcast Monday evening by the TVP2 channel to mark World Human Rights Day.
"I want to thank the Polish people for your help," Zakayev said during the program.
"The fate of Poles and Chechens has much in common," he said.
"You have proved through your determination and sacrifice that freedom can be achieved. You are an example to us," he said.
Chechnya's violent struggle for independence from Russia broke out after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
It attracted support from some Poles, who drew parallels with their own nation's years of resistance, both violent and peaceful, first to Russian and later to pro-Soviet communist rule.
But Moscow has accused Zakayev of involvement in terrorist acts.
Zakayev was once the envoy to Europe of former Chechen separatist president Aslan Maskhadov, who was slain in 2005.
He currently lives in the U.K., where he has had political refugee status since 2003.
U.K. authorities have sparked Moscow's anger by refusing to extradite him, citing lack of evidence and concerns about the integrity of the Russian judicial system.
Russia regularly denounces countries that host visits by Zakayev.
In June, for example, France found itself under fire after Zakayev came to the eastern city of Strasbourg to attend a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the human rights and democracy body.
Zakayev's latest appearance comes as Poland's new liberal prime minister Donald Tusk tries to mend fences with Russia.
He has to contend with two years of increasingly chilly relations between the two countries during the two-year incumbency of his predecessor, conservative nationalist Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
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