Aushev: military actions strengthen radicalism in the Caucasus

Military actions and special operations undertaken in the Caucasus with the aim to eliminate the threat of terror are inefficient in struggling against radicalism, but on the contrary, they strengthen it, asserts Ruslan Aushev, the first President of Ingushetia.

"The situation in the Caucasus is strained. The more military actions we undertake, the stronger is the radicalism in the region," Mr Aushev told journalists on February 7 in Baku.

The ex-leader of Ingushetia also gave his comments on the statement of President of Russia Vladimir Putin that "terrorism in the Caucasus is possible." In Ruslan Aushev's opinion, terrorism should be fought with by putting "normal tasks."

"We shouldn't see terrorist in every person making namaz five times a day, and a radical - in every girl wearing a head," Ruslan Aushev is quoted by the "Trend" Agency as saying.

The "Caucasian Knot" informed earlier that on January 30, President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke to the final annual Collegium of the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) and stated that the situation in Northern Caucasus is not under complete Moscow's control yet, and the terrorist threat in this region is still high.

Meanwhile, Farid Babaev, former leader of the regional branch of the "Yabloko" Party in Dagestan, who was killed in November 2007, said in his interview not long before his death to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the absence of stability in the Northern Caucasus - in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan - is a result of purposeful policy of "warming up" this region.