ACPC Objects to Chechen - al-Qaeda Link in Afghanistan
Washington, DC: October 3, 2003 5:00 p.m. EDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Daniel A. Pellathy, Tel. 202.296.2861 x205

The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) today expressed its strong objection to renewed reports alleging the presence of ethnic Chechens among al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and bordering regions.

ACPC Executive Director Glen Howard said, "We are stunned at the continued assertions by irresponsible reports in the western media alleging that Chechens are in Afghanistan. To date there has been no tangible evidence to support the belief that Chechens are among the remnants of the al-Qaeda/Taliban extremists operating in the region."

An October 3, 2003 Financial Times article, citing Afghan officials, reported indications of Chechens being held by military forces in South Waziristan, Afghanistan.

"Of the 3,500 al-Qaeda/Taliban POWs held by the Northern Alliance at Shiberghan, not a single Chechen has been identified," said Howard referring to a recent study published by the Jamestown Foundation's Chechnya Weekly. "Similarly, US forces currently hold no Chechens at any of the detention centers in Guantanamo Bay."

Correspondents with experience in Chechnya and Afghanistan have directly refuted suggestions of Chechens in Afghanistan with eye-witness reports by combatants and POWs. Out of the 4,000 western journalists who covered the U.S. war in Afghanistan, not one journalist encountered a single Chechen, particularly at the battle of Kunduz which reportedly had several thousand Chechens among the Taliban defenders.

"Separated by some 1,400 miles and the Caspian Sea, it seems unlikely that any of the roughly 2,000 Chechen resistance fighters entrenched in the Caucasian mountains would have made their way to Afghanistan," said Howard.

Now in its fourth year, the second Russo-Chechen war continues to thwart Chechen aspirations for autonomy and stability within the republic.

Founded in 1999, the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) is a bipartisan coalition of distinguished Americans dedicated to promoting a peaceful end to the war in Chechnya.