MASKHADOV SENDS OPEN LETTER TO G-7 LEADERS.

The separatist president of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, sent an open letter on July 19 to the presidents and prime ministers of the G-7 countries on the eve of their summit meeting in Genoa. “If you acknowledge the quiet violence of poverty upon the destitute and the hungry,” Maskhadov asked, “then why do you turn away from us? We who die in the flames of the Kremlin’s dirty war are less worthy of compassion? What has made us invisible to you?…. How is it that you celebrate Slobodan Milosevic’s at last facing judgment at The Hague but embrace Putin as a credible partner?” “In the name of a dying nation,” Maskhadov concluded, “I beg you not to forsake us any longer. I ask you collectively to take steps to foster the resumption of peace negotiations and the enactment of an immediate cease-fire guaranteed and monitored by neutral parties” (Posted on Discussion List about Chechnya, July 19).