Basaev made the remarks in an interview with journalist Andrei Babitksy that was broadcast yesterday on ABC's evening news program "Nightline." [Babitsky is a RFE/RL employee.]
Basaev -- the most-wanted man in Russia -- has claimed responsibility for a rebel attack on a school in Beslan in September 2004 in which at least 330 hostages -- half of them children -- died. The separatist leader has also admitted to or been blamed for dozens of other attacks in Chechnya and neighboring regions of southern Russia.
The U.S. program also broadcast a statement from the Russian embassy in Washington that strongly criticized the airing of the interview, saying it had provided a forum for a terrorist.
(Reuters/AP)
Basaev -- the most-wanted man in Russia -- has claimed responsibility for a rebel attack on a school in Beslan in September 2004 in which at least 330 hostages -- half of them children -- died. The separatist leader has also admitted to or been blamed for dozens of other attacks in Chechnya and neighboring regions of southern Russia.
The U.S. program also broadcast a statement from the Russian embassy in Washington that strongly criticized the airing of the interview, saying it had provided a forum for a terrorist.
(Reuters/AP)
