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Experts Say Problems in Chechnya Won’t Be Resolved in Near Future Even K Russians Ease Up, Chechens Plan to Begin Guerilla Warfare Tactics BY JENNIFER ADAMS STAFF WRITER With a full siege under way in Chechnya, convoys of Russian troops, tanks and mili tary artillery continue their descent upon the capital of Grozny, raising questions about the motives and the need for the attack. Although Grozny is expected to fall soon, the war is far from over. If driven out of the capital, the Chechens are expected to retreat into the mountains and maintain the fighting as guerillas. Willis Brooks, a UNC Russian history professor, said thathethoughttheChechens “were not likely to be salved" and that the war would continue for the foreseeable future. “The next stage will be of indeterminate length and may outlast our lifetimes, where the Chechens will continue to fight to the best of their ability,” Brooks said. “Their goal is to drain the Russian will to fight.” The war began Dec. 11 when Russian tanks rolled across the borders of Chechnya, a small mountainous area of Russia in the northern Caucasus region with more than 1.5 million residents. Chechnya is rich in natural gas and oil refineries and is consid ered strategically important as an oil pass from Azerbaijan to Russia. The New York Times said the war against Chechnya had caused “the worst internal crisis in Russia” since Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired on the Mos cow Parliament in 1993. Brooks said Russian troop morale was low and military mistakes had been nu merous. The Russians sent in tanks and motorized infantry who were not trained to work together. They also failed to go ahead with a full encircling siege until last week and left open the southeast entrance to Grozny, providing a way for Chechen reinforcements to enter. “It’s so irrational, so nonsensical, so incompetent," Brooks said. “Why did Yeltsin send his least trained soldiers?” Brooks estimated that as much as 3 percent of Russia’s annual spending was being expended on the war effort. Asa result, the war will affect everyone in Rus sia regardless of the outcome because the inflation rate will rise. Those with fixed incomes will suffer the most. “It has been a tragic series of errors,” Brooks said. “It calls into question the Russian leaders’ abilities.” Last week, the possibility for a peaceful negotiation was discussed, but proposed cease-fires have lasted only hours, and the war has continued to escalate with the siege of Grozny. Many observers, including Brooks, said they considered certain measures, such as cease-fires and the temporary halt in bomb ing by the Russians, merely as attempts to pacify the West. Chechnya first declared independence from Russia in 1991 after the breakup of Farrakhan Conspiracy Theory Disputed BY WENDY GOODMAN STAFF WRITER In the midst of celebrations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and not long before the upcoming 30th anniversary of Malcolm X’s death, an alleged plot on the life of another black leader, Louis Farrakhan, has come to light. Malcolm X’s daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, 34, is accused of conspiring to hire a hit man to kill Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Shabazz surrendered to authorities Thursday and was charged with murder for hire, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota. Shabazz was indicted on these charges Friday and is scheduled to be arraigned today. The FBI had been investigating Shabazz for seven months before the indictment, the release said. There is controversy as to whether the charges against Shabazz are legitimate. Prominent experts from Chapel Hill have questioned the validity of the charges. “When I first heard it, I thought it was inconceivable. I couldn’t believe it,” said Chuck Stone, a UNC journalism professor and friend of Malcolm X. “I don’t give any validity to it, [knowing] the family.” DRUGS FROM PAGE 3 received grants from the Fund for the Im provement of Post-Secondary Education. The Student Health Service at UNC received grant funds from the N.C. De partment of Human Resources to train PHOENIX FROM PAGE 3 to get started. Now we are ready to publish our newsmagazine." Another reason the Phoenix was not published last semester was that the staff was trying to change its format, said John Conway, the magazine’s faculty adviser. “The magazine is going through an over haul,” he said. “There may be a possible name change, and there have already been some content and design changes.” Conway said he thought the changes would be beneficial. “It was a wise move to disassociate the new magazine with the reputation of the old magazine, which was unfavorable in many circles,"hesaid. “Last STATE & NATIONAL *■*•■ ?T“ ram® ABMBTO''jUBMUAN dih/chrisanderson the Soviet Union, but the Russians refused to accept Chechen claims to independence. Dhokhar Dudayev, a former general in the Soviet airforce, deposed the leadership of the Chechen Autonomous Republic and seized power in Grozny. Subsequently, he became president of the Chechen Republic and declared it independent from Russia. Dudayev then faced Russian Interior Min istry troops sent to Grozny by Yeltsin. When the Russian legislature demanded their return, Yeltsin complied and the con flict ended, although he still refused to accept Chechnya’s independent status. Last week, Dudayev told reporters he did not rule out the possibility of remaining an autonomous republic within the Rus sian Federation. He said he hoped for a peaceful end to the war. Russian leaders have also offered to renegotiate extensive autonomy for Chechnya but refuse to grant complete independence. “There has been a level of posturing on both sides that is so dramatic that no one knows what the other side will do,” Brooks said. Publicly, Yeltsin said the territorial in tegrity and unity of Russia was at stake in preventing Chechnya from seceding from the Russian Federation. But the question remains why he chose to invade Chechnya now. “There didn’t appear to be a threat,” Brooks said. “It is not at all clear why he invaded when he did.” David Griffiths, also a UNC Russian history professor, said there were numer ous theories about why Yeltsin chose to invade when he did, including one that Yeltsin’s head bodyguard, a former hard liner, was now dictating policy. “There are an awful lot of curious go ings-ons,” he said. “There is a question as to whom Yeltsin is listening to. “Some people I’ve talked to think the hard-liner nationalists are getting more supportfrom Yeltsin,” Griffiths said. “The problem for the West is, if not Yeltsin, then who?” Griffiths said the democrats who had traditionally supported Yeltsin were the most upset with his decision to invade Chechnya, while the military and nation alists were strongly behind this decision, causing a shift in his base of support. Judy Shelton, a former adviser to Yeltsin’s economic team, said she thought the crisis in Chechnyahadbeen "extremely divisive” and had caused political instabil Leader of the Nation of Islam LOUIS FARRAKHAN said he didn’t believe there was a conspiracy to kill him. Michael Dyson, a UNC professor of communication studies who wrote a book on Malcolm X, said he ques tioned the legiti macy ofthecharges. “It may or may not be true. Many African-Americans have justification for skepticism. First there is the timing, when we are cel ebrating King’s birthday; and why seven months later?” Dyson said. Both Stone and Dyson said they be lieved Shabazz was a victim of entrap ment, especially as the only witness against her is Michael Fitzpatrick. Shabazz allegedly hired Fitzpatrick, a former classmate ofhers, to kill Farrakhan. Fitzpatrick is currently facing drug charges. However, in previous years, he helped the government to arrest members formerly in the Jewish Defense League. “Entrapment is always a possibility. Given the man’s circumstances and back- prevention specialists. In October, SHS announced that it planned to create an office that would coordinate the services offered to combat substance abuse. The office would provide a full-time employee who could coordi nate all of the treatment and prevention programs available at UNC, said Deirdre semester, we took the time to plan, which will help the Phoenix become better.” Reynolds also said the past semester had been used as a planning period to change the magazine’s image. “In the past, the Phoenix was in finan cial trouble with student government, which happened before I got here,” she said. “The magazine had a bad reputation. We wanted to change that reputation, and we felt the best way to do that was to get organized before we got published.” Reynolds said the staff hoped that the new Phoenix would be more appealing than the old one. “We wanted the Kioenix to be something everyone can read and find something interesting in. Our first issue, for example, will cover student re- Sailg ®ar Hrel ity. Shelton said she thought Yeltsin had failed to exercise control democratically, especially by relying on advisers who were “throwbacks” from Soviet years. “His mishandling [of Chechnya] since 1991, when they were trying to get out of the Soviet Union, casts doubt on his ability to lead,” she said. “It has undermined everything Yeltsin was trying to work for. ” Shelton said she feared that one of the ramifications of Yeltsin’s-role in the war would be that the United States might retreat from its involvement in Russia and withdraw aid. “It provides a ready excuse to turn our backs on Russia,” she said. “I see indica tions this will happen.” If the United States and other Western nations curtail aid, Shelton said increased instability would be the result, especially if Russian citizens feel the West has reneged on its promises to help Russia. “If the West is seen as reversing its position, this could have some weight with Russians who are disappointed with Yeltsin and blame the West,” Shelton said. She said she understood why Yeltsin wanted to prevent the disintegration of the union that might result if Chechnya se ceded. “Russia is fighting for cohesion,” she said. If Chechnya were granted indepen dence, this could cause a problem for Rus sia given the numerous ethnic minorities along its periphery. “It would be a signal to other fiefdoms that there was money to be made by sepa rating,” Shelton said. “If allowed to be independent, they can exercise a signifi cant territorial control over the resources in the borders.” Griffiths also said he believed the poten tial for an unraveling of the Russian Fed eration existed. “There is a real fear if Chechnya is independent that other minorities on the periphery will be inspired to secede,” he said. Griffiths said he thought this created a problem for Western leaders in deciding what to do. He said the choice was be tween which option was “not as bad” as the other. “The West is in a dilemma. If they back Yeltsin and he goes in and bloodies up Chechnya, they will be supporting brutal ity,” Griffiths said. “Otherwise, by sup porting the independence of Chechnya, there could be a disintegration of Russia. ” He said he thought Chechnya’s current relationship with Russia had been strongly influenced by two past events: the tremen dous Chechen resistance to Russia’s impe rialist expansion during the 19th century and Stalin’s brutal treatment of the Chechen people. “There is a long history of resistance, of ferocious fighters,” Griffiths said. “They do not have a lot in common with Russians and have never accepted Russian domina tion.” During World War H, approximately 400,000 Chechens were sent to Kazhakhstan and other Central Asian re publics when Stalin decided they were not “loyal” enough, he said. ground, he is not the most reliable man,” Stone said. “He is not exactly a choirboy. ” Dyson questioned the way in which this case was linked to Malcolm X’s murder. “If it is true, it is clear that Shabazz was trapped, especially if in her mind she be lieved that Farrakhan had anything to do with her father’s murder,” Dyson said. Not only has the possibility of Shabazz’s entrapmentbeenvoicedby important black leaders, but many have seen this as a con spiracy against the black community as a whole and have had problems with the timing of the events. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist by na ture, but it seems conspiratory to me by the U.S. government,” Dyson said. “It rein forces the complicity of our government in its moral practices to degrade and devalue the black leaders.” In a press release from the Nation of Islam, conspiracy was also a concern. According to the release, “The question that must be raised by the black commu nity today is whether or not, in the face of our 440 years of suffering at the hands of our oppressors, we can reasonably believe that the U.S. Department of Justice desires to protect Minister Louis Farrakhan’s life. ” Bronwen Clark contributed to this article. Laurilliard, a counselor at SHS. This employee would serve as a sub stance abuse officer who works for campuswide educational and prevention programs, much like the sexual harass ment and racial harassment officers al ready at UNC, said Edith Wiggins, interim vice chancellor for student affairs. sponse to the recent elections, personality profiles and restaurant reviews.” D’Abruzzo also said the new magazine would be an improvement over the old one. “We are trying to add more variety to the magazine," she said. “It used to cover somewhat depressing stories.” Reynolds said the first issue of the new Phoenix would be published in February, with two or three more issues to follow before the semester’s end. The Phoenix receives student funding, but none of that money was used last semester when the magazine was not pub lished, Conway said. “All fees are still in the Phoenix’s account,” he said. “The money appropriated will be used for what ever magazine comes out.”
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 18, 1995, edition 1
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