Failing to prove a case for Chechen independence

When the USSR disintegrated in 1991, Chechnya claimed sovereignty, no doubt encouraged by the Western oil companies who wanted to control the pipeline from Baku to the Black Sea via Grozny.

Woods shrugs off this connection and concentrates on the historical grievances between Chechens and the Russians.

The first post-Soviet Chechen-Russian war, instigated by Yeltsin in 1994 to crush their bid for independence, ended in 1996, when Russian troops withdrew after a negotiated de facto independence.

Woods's complaint is that this independence was not recognised internationally, resulting in a period of economic hardship.

Fundamentalist Islamist leaders such as Shamil Basaev came to the fore and his sortie into Dagestan in 1999 resulted in the second Russian attack on Chechnya.

This time, the Russians won, but again at great cost to lives. Since then, Russia has set Chechnya on a course of economic recovery, with pro-Moscow leaders installed.

Assassinations of key figures on both sides continue. What case is there for Chechen independence now? Separatists demand "full sovereignty, retaining economic and other ties with Russia," a pipe dream in view of past hostilities.

JEAN TURNER