Putin vents his anger at the West: Don't tell me to talk to child-killers

At a time of national crisis, Mary Dejevsky is granted a rare audience with the Russian President

Three days after the bloody end of the school siege in North Ossetia, the Russian President has attacked Western countries for observing double standards on terrorism, asking why they insisted on calling Chechen separatists "rebels'' while they always branded those responsible for the 11 September attacks in the United States as "terrorists''.

In an unexpected change of tone, however, Vladimir Putin also held out the prospect of a more conciliatory line towards Chechnya, praising Chechen traditions and suggesting there was a possibility of broad-based parliamentary elections there.

Mr Putin was answering questions from an international group of Russian specialists and journalists, including The Independent, at his residence at Novo Ogarevo, outside Moscow. In a wide-ranging conversation, which lasted for three and a half hours and ended only after midnight, Mr Putin said that Russia was quite prepared to show flexibility towards the rebellious region of Chechnya in future, but "not with those who do not stop at shooting children''.

His fists clenched, he said: "No one has the right to advise us to talk to people like that. I don't advise you to meet Bin Laden, invite him to Brussels and Nato or the White House, hold talks with him, and let him dictate what he wants so that he will then leave you alone. But you tell us that we should talk to everyone, including child-killers.''

Mr Putin had begun talking about Russia's problem with Chechen separatism in a much softer tone, however, charting a history of Russian- Chechen relations in which he paid tribute to the bravery of Chechens during the Second World War. Then, he said, they had probably had more heroes proportionately than any other ethnic group. One third of those defending the fortress at Brest on the Western Front were Chechens, and they had stood "until the very last bullet and the last drop of blood'', refusing to surrender, he said.

Mr Putin forcefully condemned what he said were serious mistakes made by Soviet leaders in dealing with the Chechens, starting with Stalin's order that expelled them from their homeland in the Caucasus to Central Asia and the far north of Russia. Many thousands died on the journey. "I have been to the camps in the far north and even today it's frightening to see,'' Mr Putin said. All these injustices together "could not but lead to separatism''.

Seeming to extend an olive branch to a much broader swath of Chechen opinion than hitherto, Mr Putin said: "We will continue our dialogue with civil society. This will include holding parliamentary elections, trying to get as many people as possible involved, with as many views and policies as possible.'' One of the big criticisms of Russia's policy in Chechnya is that it has held presidential elections from which the more popular opposition figures have been excluded, but delayed parliamentary elections.

Mr Putin gave a clear indication that he was open to the holding of parliamentary elections in Chechnya - although he did not give a date - in the hope of drawing many more people into the political process. He also said that the intention was to "strengthen law enforcement by staffing the police and other bodies in Chechnya with Chechens''.

The two moves together would amount to the continuation, even acceleration, of the policy of "Chechenisation'', which some believed would be reversed after the spate of recent attacks in Russia: the downing of two planes, a bomb near a Moscow underground station, and, last week, the siege of School Number One in Beslan that cost more than 300 lives.

In a little-noticed move two weeks before the attacks, the Russian government had decreed that Chechnya should be able to keep revenue from its oil, rather than remit the proceeds to Russia as currently happens. This was a major change in policy and one that irritated other regions that do not enjoy a similar right.

Mr Putin insisted, however, that Russia would retain troops in Chechnya. Their withdrawal is one of the separatists' main objectives. Russia had as much right to keep troops in the region as the US has to station its troops "in California or Texas'', he said.

Asked about human rights violations by Russian troops in Chechnya, Mr Putin again went on the attack, saying: "Compare the torture of Iraqi prisoners. This hasn't happened on the direction of the top US leaders, but because of how individual people behaved in these circumstances. Those who are to blame must be punished.''

Russian troops had been responsible for "ugly phenomena'' in Chechnya, Mr Putin admitted, but this too was a product of the circumstances, he said, and the perpetrators were punished.

The Russian President also appeared to extend an invitation to foreign countries to assist with reconstruction in Chechnya - the first time that Russia has come near to soliciting any outside involvement. "We need to rehabilitate society in Chechnya to know there is another sort of life, and we would appreciate assistance with that.''