ABC: Terrorist on the Air

The American TV channel ABC News, in spite of the protests made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, aired an interview with Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev. The interview was shown on the national program "Nightline" of the ABC News channel.

Questions were put to Basayev by Radio Freedom correspondent Andrew Babitski, notorious for his friendly relations with Chechen extremists.

Commenting on this event, Chechen president Alu Alkhanov accused some Western countries and media of pursuing a "double standards" policy toward the heads of international terrorists.

"How else can I call the actions of the American TV channel ABC News that broadcast an interview with Shamil Basayev tonight", said A. Alkhanov. He added that Western countries are themselves exposed to terrorist attacks, citing the recent large-scale acts of terror in London.

"I was amazed that they allowed a man who openly takes the responsibility for dozens of acts of terror in Russia killing hundreds of innocent civilians, make new threats against Russia and Russian people", said Chechen president.

"In my view, those who give the floor to Basayev, don't quite realize the threat coming from that man and his terrorist likes to the whole world", said A. Alkhanov.

He stressed that it would be impossible to uproot terrorism, if the "double standards" are maintained. "There is practically no peaceful corner left in the world, where people could feel secure, and the world has to unite in the fight against terrorists, without dividing them in good and bad ones, red or green, friend or foe ", noted A. Alkhanov.

He also stressed that each new case of Basayev and his likes coming on the air or on the pages of Western media is accompanied by a new wave of terrorist activity. All this, in his view, "also implies the guilt of those who have not taken up an active stance against terrorism and continue to think that a terrorist killing people in far-away countries is a good one, which is a wrong point of view".