17:11, 29 July 2005

Yamadayev admits clean-up, denies violence

Colonel Sulim Yamadayev, commander of the Vostok ("East") battalion, admits that it was his subordinates who carried out the notorious clean-up in Borozdinovskaia. However, he says the special operation took place without his knowledge, Kommersant newspaper reports. The commander himself was ill on 3-4 June. Yamadayev also emphasised his servicemen "did not commit violence over civilians, but they were trying to obtain information to locate the whereabouts of gangsters who had murdered the father of one of our fighters."

In saying so, Yamadayev noted he had not learnt about the unauthorised actions of his subordinates in Borozdinovskaia at once. "As commander, I will cooperate with the investigation, and if some one of the fighters was involved in the crimes, he will be held accountable." At the same time, commander Yamadayev hinted at his having many enemies in Chechnya's law enforcement agencies who were "interested in compromising us."

Abducted people to miss another month