The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Putin had to choose between two evils

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Saturday, Sep 04, 2004

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Opinion - News Analysis

Putin had to choose between two evils

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, SEPT. 3. The two-day hostage drama in a children-packed school in North Ossetia came to a bloody end on Friday when Russian commandos stormed the building two days after it was seized by Chechen gunmen.

The assault left hundreds of hostages dead or wounded. Security officials said the decision to assault the school was forced on them by the hostage-takers who opened fire on a group of hostages trying to escape during a negotiated evacuation of dead bodies from the building. One way or the other, this outcome appeared inevitable.

Gravest crisis

The hostage-taking drama in North Ossetia confronted the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the gravest crisis of his five-year presidency. It was the latest in an unprecedented spate of coordinated terrorist attacks in Russia over the past 10 days that began with the downing of two Russian airliners that killed 90 people, continued with a suicide bomb blast near a Moscow metro station that claimed 11 lives, and culminated with the seizure of over 1,000 children, their parents and teachers.

The crisis presented Mr. Putin with a painful dilemma: to succumb to the hostage-takers' demands to withdraw Russian troops from Chechnya and grant Chechnya independence in order to save the lives of the hostages or to storm the school, risking a bloodbath and inviting the wrath of their relatives and human rights organisations.

In reality, Mr. Putin had no choice. He did say on Thursday that the safety of the hostages was paramount, but giving in to the terrorists' demands would have far-reaching negative consequences, not only for his efforts to end violence in Chechnya, but also for the global struggle against terrorism. It would encourage extremists to mount more attacks of catastrophic proportions in the hope that the greater casualties and psychological shock would cause Moscow's capitulation. This would also send a strong signal to terrorists world-wide.

Chechen rebels are known to have long-standing ties with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Moreover, responsibility for the twin bombing the Russian airliners was claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islambouli Brigades. Given these facts, it cannot be ruled out that the latest string of terrorist strikes in Russia were part of a broader international terrorist plan targeting other countries as well.

Planned action

The Beslan hostage-taking raid had been planned by terrorists with a devilish aim of spilling over violence beyond Chechnya and triggering a new ethnic conflict between North Ossetia and Ingushetia, two Russian regions neighbouring Chechnya which clashed in 1992 over a disputed border territory.

It took Moscow great efforts to end the conflict, which cost hundreds of lives, but relations between the two ethnic groups have remained tense at best. Their hostility is aggravated by the fact that North Ossetia is the only predominantly Christian territory in North Caucasus surrounded by Muslim regions. Moreover, the Ingushi are closely related to Chechens and are largely seen as sympathising with the Chechen rebel resistance.

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Putin had to choose between two evils