B
B1ackwater
Guest
BBC
Police have clashed with anti-government protesters in the Russian
region of Ingushetia, firing over their heads and swinging batons.
Protesters threw stones at police and set fire to at least two
buildings in the main town of Nazran.
The demonstration had been banned by Russia's security services, which
have imposed emergency measures in response to a number of attacks and
abductions.
Muslim Ingushetia borders Chechnya and has suffered from overflowing
unrest.
There is a low-level insurgency, with regular small-scale ambushes
against police and soldiers.
Election anger
The Federal Security Service (FSB) on Friday brought in
"counter-terrorist" measures, and on Saturday morning the central
square in Nazran had been cordoned off.
As a few dozen protesters tried to break through the cordon, police
forced them back with batons and tear gas.
Stones and petrol bombs were thrown at police, who fired shots over
the heads of the crowd.
Some were severely beaten by police and dragged off to waiting vans.
Police would not say how many people had been taken away. The Ekho
Moskvy radio station said two of its journalists were among those
detained.
Protesters set fire to a hotel and the offices of a local newspaper
which has been accused of sympathising with the government of
Kremlin-backed President Murad Zyazikov.
The activists were complaining about the government's policies,
security service crackdowns, and the alleged vote-rigging in
December's election, in which Mr Zyazikov's pro-Putin was declared to
have won 99% of the vote.
The authorities threatened to come down hard on their opponents.
"Everyone even indirectly involved in organising this protest will be
severely punished," regional Interior Minister Musa Medov told The
Associated Press.
- - - - -
For reference, Ingushetia is a primarily sunni moslem
micro-republic that runs along the western border of
Chechnya. It was part of a composite Chechen-Inguish
republic until Chechens began their independence move
away from the USSR (continued still against the Russian
Federation). Ingushetia is also home to about 40,000
Inguesh refugees from neighboring North Ossetia, banished
from that region by Stalin.
Looks as if Russias problems with its moslem-dominated
'states' are slowly escalating. Likely it's true that
Russia applied the heavy hand and got their favored
president re-elected. The USA has done the same in
certain nations too over the years.
Why big nations cannot resist meddling in the politics
of small, largely irrelevant nations is unclear - but
it never seems to work out very well.
Unfortunately, the Inguesh may have picked an especially
bad time to complain about politics. Putin is on a
rampage recently, eager to make Russia a power to be
reckoned with in the world once again. Elimination
of political enemies, grabbing territory at the north
pole, building-up the Russian army and re-asserting
Russias nuclear "strike first" doctrine are all part
of this national re-awakening.
Ingushetia is thus in line for VERY harsh treatment if
they do not cease their overt protests. Putin will
ensure their fate is a lesson for all would-be breakaways
and/or troublemakers. You can change the faces, you can
change the flags, you can change the enonomic system -
but Russia is still Russia ... along with its heavy-
handed approach to seemingly minor issues.
Police have clashed with anti-government protesters in the Russian
region of Ingushetia, firing over their heads and swinging batons.
Protesters threw stones at police and set fire to at least two
buildings in the main town of Nazran.
The demonstration had been banned by Russia's security services, which
have imposed emergency measures in response to a number of attacks and
abductions.
Muslim Ingushetia borders Chechnya and has suffered from overflowing
unrest.
There is a low-level insurgency, with regular small-scale ambushes
against police and soldiers.
Election anger
The Federal Security Service (FSB) on Friday brought in
"counter-terrorist" measures, and on Saturday morning the central
square in Nazran had been cordoned off.
As a few dozen protesters tried to break through the cordon, police
forced them back with batons and tear gas.
Stones and petrol bombs were thrown at police, who fired shots over
the heads of the crowd.
Some were severely beaten by police and dragged off to waiting vans.
Police would not say how many people had been taken away. The Ekho
Moskvy radio station said two of its journalists were among those
detained.
Protesters set fire to a hotel and the offices of a local newspaper
which has been accused of sympathising with the government of
Kremlin-backed President Murad Zyazikov.
The activists were complaining about the government's policies,
security service crackdowns, and the alleged vote-rigging in
December's election, in which Mr Zyazikov's pro-Putin was declared to
have won 99% of the vote.
The authorities threatened to come down hard on their opponents.
"Everyone even indirectly involved in organising this protest will be
severely punished," regional Interior Minister Musa Medov told The
Associated Press.
- - - - -
For reference, Ingushetia is a primarily sunni moslem
micro-republic that runs along the western border of
Chechnya. It was part of a composite Chechen-Inguish
republic until Chechens began their independence move
away from the USSR (continued still against the Russian
Federation). Ingushetia is also home to about 40,000
Inguesh refugees from neighboring North Ossetia, banished
from that region by Stalin.
Looks as if Russias problems with its moslem-dominated
'states' are slowly escalating. Likely it's true that
Russia applied the heavy hand and got their favored
president re-elected. The USA has done the same in
certain nations too over the years.
Why big nations cannot resist meddling in the politics
of small, largely irrelevant nations is unclear - but
it never seems to work out very well.
Unfortunately, the Inguesh may have picked an especially
bad time to complain about politics. Putin is on a
rampage recently, eager to make Russia a power to be
reckoned with in the world once again. Elimination
of political enemies, grabbing territory at the north
pole, building-up the Russian army and re-asserting
Russias nuclear "strike first" doctrine are all part
of this national re-awakening.
Ingushetia is thus in line for VERY harsh treatment if
they do not cease their overt protests. Putin will
ensure their fate is a lesson for all would-be breakaways
and/or troublemakers. You can change the faces, you can
change the flags, you can change the enonomic system -
but Russia is still Russia ... along with its heavy-
handed approach to seemingly minor issues.
