London/Agency Caucasus – Ahmed Zakayev, Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, appointed new representatives of Chechnya to Islamic countries.
In Zakayev’s 19 February 2008 written decree, Said Mansur, Ali Baysayev, Salah Isayev, Zakari Malsagov, Bilal Mansurov and Ruslan Makayev were appointed as representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in Muslim countries. Said Ashabov, General Representative of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in Muslim countries, was given the authority to control execution of each appointment. The official decree did not specify the locations for new appointments.
Zakayev also appointed Ruslan Abdurzakov as Deputy President of the Sports Department of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Ruslan Tahayev, President of the Sports Department, was given the authority to control the execution of this decree.
Meanhile, Zakayev said in his earlier written statement that it would set an example for Chechnya if Russia acted in retaliation for Kosovo’s declaration of independence and recognized both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two countries that had declared their independence from Georgia in the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Zakayev also accused Russia of not including Chechnya in the group of countries whose right to determine their own fate it declared that it would support.ÖZ/FT
