Who Kidnapped the Yank in Chechnya

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

Friday, February 9 (via yahoo)

Freed US aid worker contradicts Kremlin about his release

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (AFP) - A US aid worker who was held hostage in Chechnya for
26 days said Thursday he was not rescued by Russian secret service agents in
an operation that won high praise from President Vladimir Putin.

But Kenny Gluck, who directed relief efforts in the North Caucasus for the
Nobel prize winning organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said he
remained in the dark about who kidnapped him and their motives.

Gluck, who was snatched by masked gunmen on January 9 near the village of
Stariye Atagi south of Chechnya's capital Grozny, said that his kidnappers
took him blindfolded to the house of the local doctor and left him outside.

"On the night of my release I was told to put my glasses in my coat pocket
and a wool hat was pulled down over my eyes," he told a packed press
conference in Moscow.

"I was driven by car for some time during which I was repeatedly apologised
to and told my kidnapping was a mistake and that my release had been ordered
without any conditions or ransom," Gluck added.

The aid worker said the doctor contacted the head of the Chechen village
administration who himself then telephoned the local military barracks where
Gluck was delivered on February 5.

The 39-year-old relief worker said he could not comment on rumours that the
Russian security services (FSB, ex-KGB) were behind his abduction.

"I can't engage in speculation about who (kidnapped me)," he said.

Conspiracy theories spread after an officer in the FSB told the Kommersant
daily that Gluck had been set free by his captors, who were FSB agents, and
not rescued as the Russian authorities claimed.

Gluck was abducted when gunmen stopped his four-car aid convoy.

A former Russian army major, Vyatcheslav Izmailov, who has been helping to
secure hostages' releases for the past five years, told the Novaya Gazeta
weekly that the kidnapping was definitely an inside job sponsored by Russian
secret agents and their Chechen partners.

FSB chief spokesman Alexander Zdanovich said Gluck was freed in a special
operation by Russian agents who had located the place where he was being
held captive several days after painstakingly staking out the area.

Putin had praised the secret services, saying on Monday: "This was highly
professional work, without any casualties. ... That is most important."

The head of MSF's Dutch branch which has been operating in Chechnya, Austen
Davis, said that the organisation had not paid any ransom to secure Gluck's
release.

Gluck said that he had not been mistreated during his captivity in an
underground cellar, and was fed regularly as well as provided with
medication for his asthmatic condition.

"I was never gagged, beaten or tortured. I was always given three meals a
day," the American said, adding that he had passed the time by reading a
book he had with him and listening to a radio provided by his captors.

The aid worker, who flew into Moscow from the North Caucasus on Monday, said
that he planned to travel soon to New York to spend time with his family.

Gluck's abduction, last in the series of kidnappings of journalists, aid
workers and other foreigners, alarmed the international aid community, and
the United Nations and non-governmental groups suspended their operations in
Chechnya.

However, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said
Thursday that it would soon resume aid convoys to Chechnya.

Russian troops and tanks poured into Chechnya on October 1, 1999, to crack
down on rebels, but Moscow has been unable to wipe out guerrilla activity in
the Caucasus republic since retaking the capital Grozny last February.
 
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nyteeu-02.09.01-11:46:41-9803