22.07.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. Several hundreds of Chechens are living nowadays in Shahumian district of RNK, occupied by Azerbaijan, and they have already had conflicts with Azeris from the neighboring regions, declared today in the interview to Yerevan "Hayots Ashkhar" paper Igor Muradian, who was one of the leaders of the movement for Karabakh's joining to Armenia in 1988.
According to Muradian, the Chechens, living now in Shahumian, are not fighters but refugees. "But it doesn't mean that fighter bases may not be set up on this ground in the future", said Muradian. He also declared that the Karabakh army " must fire at them consistently, until the Chechens have formed military-technical engineer installations in Shahumian".
On April 28, 2000 Yerevan "Azg" paper reported that Erkej, Buzlukh and Verin Shen villages of Shahumian district of RNK, occupied by Azerbaijan, are being settled by Chechens. "The Azeri authorities have begun the realization of the program on transforming the regions bordering with RNK into military bases for the Chechen fighters", read the publication.
In July 1999 in the exclusive interview to MEDIAMAX the chief ideological leader of the Chechen fighters Movladi Udugov said : "The Islamic military subdivisions are not likely to wait for the resumption of war in Nagorno Karabakh. According to some information, they are planning to start a campaign on restoration of Muslim territories in Transcaucasus in 2000". He also didn't exclude that in case of the resumption of war in Nagorno Karabakh, the Chechen fighters will take part in the war actions. "I know that Karabakh is the second urgent question after the liberation of Daghestan in the plans of most Islamic military groups," said Movladi Udugov. -0-