David McDuff
03-01-2004, 11:27 AM
RTR TV, 29 February 2004 [BBC Monitoring]
Russian pundit claims US and British special services behind Qatar
incident
[Presenter] It's impossible to take a professional camera to Qatar
but our colleague, Valeriy Zhadov, managed to bring an amateur camera
into Doha.
[Correspondent] The story of the killing of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and
the arrest of suspects contains more questions than answers. We have
tried to gather as much reliable information here in Qatar as
possible and to check on the spot the theories put forward by our
experts from Russia and the USA. A prison on the outskirts of Doha,
in the desert, is encircled by barbed wire. The two Russians who were
arrested after Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev's jeep had been blown up have
been kept here for almost two weeks. You can be arrested for filming
the prison. Visits to the detainees are not allowed either, despite
persistent requests by the Russian consulate.
[Passage omitted]
[Farid Seyful-Mulyukov, international affairs journalist, a legendary
Soviet-era Arabist] When Yandarbiyev's car was blown up, the police
didn't know what to do and just stared at the flames. This fact alone
shows the incompetence and inexperience of these special services. To
claim that they have a strong army or strong special services would
be absurd. Of course, they rely on the US and British special
services for whom Qatar has a great military importance in the Gulf.
[Correspondent] It's difficult to follow developments after the blast
in Doha. A hunt, if there was any, for those involved in
Yandarbiyev's murder was secret and covert. There was no blanket
document checks, raids in airports or stations. Nevertheless, five
days later the police announced that three Russians had been
detained. One of them had diplomatic immunity and was soon released.
[Passage omitted]
[Seyful-Mulyukov] I think that Qatar was not independent in its
actions. I think this was done not without prompting from its Western
partners and certain neighbours in the region.
[Aleksey Malashenko, Carnegie Foundation expert] Let's imagine for a
moment what would happen if Bin-Ladin or someone from his people were
killed in the same way somewhere in, say, Pakistan or another state.
I think that this would have been hailed as a great victory in the
fight against terrorism. Incidentally, let's not forget that the late
Yandarbiyev was far from an innocent lamb. He was responsible for
funds and it's known that these funds were used for terror, among
other things.
[Correspondent] The prosecutors have not yet provided the exact
wording for the detained Russians. The Qatari special services are
keeping silent about who exactly executed the killing. But even
Yandarbiyev's former close associates in Doha maintain that the rebel
leadership in Chechnya was clearly displeased with him because he
appropriated a part of the terrorists' finances.
Russian pundit claims US and British special services behind Qatar
incident
[Presenter] It's impossible to take a professional camera to Qatar
but our colleague, Valeriy Zhadov, managed to bring an amateur camera
into Doha.
[Correspondent] The story of the killing of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and
the arrest of suspects contains more questions than answers. We have
tried to gather as much reliable information here in Qatar as
possible and to check on the spot the theories put forward by our
experts from Russia and the USA. A prison on the outskirts of Doha,
in the desert, is encircled by barbed wire. The two Russians who were
arrested after Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev's jeep had been blown up have
been kept here for almost two weeks. You can be arrested for filming
the prison. Visits to the detainees are not allowed either, despite
persistent requests by the Russian consulate.
[Passage omitted]
[Farid Seyful-Mulyukov, international affairs journalist, a legendary
Soviet-era Arabist] When Yandarbiyev's car was blown up, the police
didn't know what to do and just stared at the flames. This fact alone
shows the incompetence and inexperience of these special services. To
claim that they have a strong army or strong special services would
be absurd. Of course, they rely on the US and British special
services for whom Qatar has a great military importance in the Gulf.
[Correspondent] It's difficult to follow developments after the blast
in Doha. A hunt, if there was any, for those involved in
Yandarbiyev's murder was secret and covert. There was no blanket
document checks, raids in airports or stations. Nevertheless, five
days later the police announced that three Russians had been
detained. One of them had diplomatic immunity and was soon released.
[Passage omitted]
[Seyful-Mulyukov] I think that Qatar was not independent in its
actions. I think this was done not without prompting from its Western
partners and certain neighbours in the region.
[Aleksey Malashenko, Carnegie Foundation expert] Let's imagine for a
moment what would happen if Bin-Ladin or someone from his people were
killed in the same way somewhere in, say, Pakistan or another state.
I think that this would have been hailed as a great victory in the
fight against terrorism. Incidentally, let's not forget that the late
Yandarbiyev was far from an innocent lamb. He was responsible for
funds and it's known that these funds were used for terror, among
other things.
[Correspondent] The prosecutors have not yet provided the exact
wording for the detained Russians. The Qatari special services are
keeping silent about who exactly executed the killing. But even
Yandarbiyev's former close associates in Doha maintain that the rebel
leadership in Chechnya was clearly displeased with him because he
appropriated a part of the terrorists' finances.