ACPC Condemns Moscow Subway Bombing
Washington, DC: February 9, 2004 5:00 p.m. EDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Daniel A. Pellathy, Tel. 202.364.2466

ACPC today strongly condemned last week's subway bomb attack in Moscow and called for a renewed commitment by both parties to ending the war through peaceful negotiations.

"This appalling attack on citizens of the Russian Federation cannot be justified. It goes against all efforts in developing a sustained political process to end the tragic war in Chechnya," ACPC Executive Director Glen Howard said.

The bombing on February 6 killed 39 individuals and injured some 100 others. Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately blamed Chechen resistance leader Aslan Maskhadov for the attack.

"Blaming Maskhadov, who frequently and fervently denounces such attacks, without reference to a known terrorist such as Chechen warlord Shamyl Basayev, seems odd," Howard commented. "Putin's statements serve only to alienate those who favor a negotiated settlement among the separatist fighters."

With nearly a dozen bomb attacks associated with the conflict claiming some 200 lives throughout the Russian Federation in 2003, the war in Chechnya has spread instability and fear far beyond the borders of the tiny republic. It is estimated that total deaths among the Chechens, including those from the 1994-1997 war, exceed 100,000. Roughly 80,000 Russian troops are stationed in Chechnya.

"No military solution to the war in Chechnya exists. Only through a negotiated political settlement, such as the plan recently endorsed by the European Union calling for the engagement of the United Nations, can this war be resolved," concluded Howard.

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.