#9
Trud
November 27, 2001
TERRORIST FINANCIAL CHANNELS CLOSED
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
AMERICA IS HELPING RUSSIA TO CLOSE THE CHANNELS BY WHICH CHECHEN SEPARATISTS ARE SPONSORED. US AMBASSADOR TO MOSCOW ALEXANDER VERSHBOW WAS QUOTED AS SAYING THAT "WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO PREVENT ASSISTANCE TO THE REBELS."
Washington's abandonment of the policy of double standards has an invigorating effect on the international public opinion. The meeting of Group 20 finance ministers (leaders of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were present there as well) in Montreal resolved to unearth and freeze terrorist bank accounts all over the world. The decision was made to publish lists of terrorists and the amounts frozen there every month. Canada has already frozen 28 suspicious accounts to the tune of $344,000. Countries of the counter-terrorism coalition arrested bin Laden-related bank accounts with $56 million on them all over the world.
Every country is recommended to establish its own financial intelligence structures to investigate suspicious operations and inform analogous services abroad.
All these measures have already had a positive effect on the state of affairs in Chechnya. Secretary of the Security Council Vladimir Rushailo says, "Financial assistance to hitmen in Chechnya is not what it used to be by a long shot, thanks to coordinated activities of the international community."
Separatists in Chechnya are left without finances nowadays because of the efforts of the international community and effectiveness of the federal forces in Chechnya. Not so long ago secret services detained a courier in the Shali district with $30,000 for Shamil Basayev. According to Russian intelligence, Chechen separatists are mostly sponsored by Moslem Brothers international terrorist organization operating under different covers in many countries.
Separatists in Chechnya are in real trouble now. Trapped in the mountains, they are short of food and medicines. They are forced to barter warm clothing and munitions for food. All of that probably explains their decision to get down into the plains and disappear in settlements to continue the mine war on the federal forces.
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