§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence his Department has of links between Chechens and(a) al-Qaeda, (b) Iraqi insurgents and (c) other practitioners of terrorism. [146686]
§ Mr. MacShaneChechen extremists had close and long-established links to terrorists based in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. Some foreign terrorists who trained in Afghanistan, and had ties with al-Qaeda, went on to fight in Chechnya. Some Chechens fought with the Taliban and al-Qaeda against the Northern Alliance, and subsequently against the Coalition. Chechen groups even set up an "Embassy" in Kabul in early 2001. Those involved are subject to UN sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 1267. Under the same resolution, the leading Chechen rebel field commander Shamil Basayev was made subject to UN sanctions on 12 August 2003.We have no strong evidence of Chechen terrorists being in Iraq. Some networks that support Chechen terrorism, however, may also support extremists in Iraq. Chechen extremists have developed links with a wide range of other extremists, including some in Europe, in order to fund and support their campaign. Some extremists see the conflict in Chechnya as a 'jihad' which they have a duty to support.