Word: separatist
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...some lessons from U.S. politicians, Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his critics abroad are undermining his country's battle against terrorism. In a rare three-and-one-half hour meeting with foreign scholars and journalists, including TIME, Putin Monday claimed that "some circles" in the West were encouraging separatist movements in Chechnya and other parts of the troubled Caucasus region on Russia's southern borders in order to keep Russia weak and distracted. He accused unidentified politicians, security services and commentators in several countries, including the U.S., France, Germany and the U.K., of meddling in Russia's internal affairs...
...Beslan came scarcely a week after twin suicide-bombings brought down two Russian airliners and a third wrought havoc outside a Moscow subway station, leaving more than 100 dead. The latest wave of attacks appeared calculated to mock President Putin's claim that he had defeated the Chechen separatist insurgency, and that the situation in the rebel region had was returning to normal following the election of Moscow's handpicked candidate as president of the region, in a poll widely criticized by observers. Indeed, the election was necessitated by the fact that Moscow's previous pick to lead Chechnya, Ahmad...
...Observers believe the rampant corruption in the poorly-paid Russian armed forces has contributed to the mobility of the Chechen fighters - wads of cash (raised through criminal extortion or donations from jihadi-sympathizers abroad) has often proven a more effective weapon than a rocket launcher in the hands of separatist fighters looking to break through Russian lines. The heavy-handed tactics of Moscow's forces has alienated even many of those Chechens who had initially welcomed their arrival as deliverance from the violent chaos of criminality and warlordism that had prevailed under the de facto independence won from Moscow...
...invokes al-Qaeda and sidesteps any acknowledgement that Russia may, in part, be reaping the whirlwind of what Putin has sown in Chechnya during his almost five years at the helm. Even in its most explicitly jihadist form, Chechen terrorism is a homegrown affair, although factions of the Chechen separatist movement have received financial and political support from Qaeda-aligned elements abroad - and a handful of Arab mujahedeen have long played a role in the Chechen insurgency. The Russian crackdown, which began late in 1999 as Putin sent in troops to reverse the autonomy granted the region by former President...
...resilience of the Chechen insurgency - and the increasing barbarity of its actions - put Putin in something of a bind. He staked his political career on his promise to eliminate the Chechen separatist movement, and he has obviously failed to achieve this. The failure may be not simply tactical, but strategic. By closing down the political track of dialogue with the nationalists, Putin has committed himself to pursuit of a military victory. And not only has such a victory proved elusive; its pursuit has seen the Chechen insurgency evolve into something a lot nastier and more dangerous. Then again, Chechens blowing...