Putin dispatches aide to Pakistan

Putin dispatches aide to Pakistan
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

MOSCOW, SEPT 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin is dispatching his top aide on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky to Islamabad on Tuesday, it was announced today.

Yastrzhembsky is carrying a personal letter from Putin for Pakistan's Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf, Itar-Tass news agency reported. No details about the contents of the letter were given.

However, a source said that during his talks with General Musharraf, Yastrzhembsky will ask him to immediately stop providing ``material and trained mercenaries'' to the separatist republic of Chechnya. He will also ask the Pakistani military ruler to use his influence to prevent the Taliban from making armed incursions into the neighbouring Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries.

The decision to send the top Kremlin's aide to Islamabad, comes after Pakistan's new ambassador Iftikhar Murshed, presented his credential to Putin, last week.

Yastrzhembsky's visit to Pakistan is considered important in the view of Putin's summit next week with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, at which the subject of cross-border terrorism in the region will apparently occupy centrestage.

The two leaders are expected to discuss and take measures to counter the danger, posed by cross-border terrorism to both Russia and India.

In the past months, Russia has repeatedly accused Pakistan of giving platform to anti-Russian Chechen leaders and providing training camps for guerrillas for the renegade Russian republic of Chechnya, where the rebels are fighting against federal troops.

According to Russian Interior Ministry, there are dozens of camps, being currently run on the territory of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Recently, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB, ex-KGB), arrested a Pakistani citizen, allegedly involved in recruiting people for training in Pakistan.