Russia Reform Monitor, No. 501, August 28, 1998
American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, D.C.

Chechen leader calls for terrorist war against U.S.
and says President Clinton should be killed

August 21

Though the U.S. will not defend its territory against incoming missiles, Moscow has installed a ballistic missile defense system over its westernmost territory. The air defense chief of the Russian Baltic Fleet tells the Baltic news service that the mobile, S-300PS anti-ballistic missile system has been deployed in Kaliningrad.

August 22

Chechen Vice President Vakha Arsanov calls for a terrorist war against the United States. Denouncing the strikes against suspected terrorist targets in Sudan and Afghanistan, Arsanov declares, "This is the start of World War III. All those who are subordinate to me will receive an order to open retaliatory fire." Arsanov issues a call for terrorist warfare on the United States, adding, "The act will be carried out by those very Arabs who today are cooperating closely with us." He says that no attacks should be launched within the Commonwealth of Independent States or Azerbaijan, and specifically states that no terrorist acts be carried out against Americans in Moscow. Arsanov's public statements are aired on NTV.

NTV shows Arsanov calling President Clinton "terrorist number one," the "foremost enemy of the . . . entire Islamic people," and calls for him to "be brought to criminal justice according to all shariah laws and without any time limit." [Editor's note: By invoking the shariah laws, Arsanov is calling for the President of the United States to be put to death.]

August 24

Chernomyrdin has assured Vice President Gore "that he will continue the austere program of economic reform hammered out last month" by the IMF, the New York Times reports.

"Ukraine should attain its independence," Pope John Paul II tells a group of Western intellectuals and statesmen. Washington Post columnist Lally Weymouth, who was among them, quotes him as adding, "without Ukraine, Russia can't be a superpower."

August 25

The day after dismissing Prime Minister Kiriyenko, President Yeltsin gives greater influence to the Communists who dominate the State Duma. The New York Times reports, that "the new power-sharing arrangement is intended to build support" for Chernomyrdin. Izvestiya speculates that the Communists will be given some key posts and that some economic reforms would be curtailed. RFE/RL quotes Communist Duma chief Gennady Seleznev as calling the relationship a "coalition government."

"What is Chernomyrdin known for?" asks Carnegie Moscow Center Director Alan Rousso in the Moscow Times. "As for his past, the former Soviet-era Gazprom chief is known for policies that led to the country's stagnation, and for his unnaturally close ties to the Financial-Industrial Groups that were at the root of Russia's corrupt system of 'crony capitalism.'"

"Russia, despite its economic problems, remains the world's leading developer and producer of rocket weapons," Interfax reports, covering a conference honoring the late Soviet missile designer Aleksandr Ganichev.

--J. Michael Waller

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