The employees of the operative headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation managed to find a confirmation of their information thanks to the arrest of a soldier, Rizvan. According to him, the Islamic fund ”Assalam” operating in Baku finances several criminal groups terrorizing the inhabitants of Nozhay-Yurt and Veden regions of the Chechen Republic. ”The above-mentioned fund provides finance assistance to the soldiers that live in Baku or pass a course of medical treatment there,” the release spread by the press-service of the Ministry of Interior reads. It is stressed that according to evidences of Rizvan, ”the Azerbaijani authorities are aware of the activity of the fund of ”Assalam” but still do not undertake any measures for its liquidation”. Even the officials of Aliyev administration do not deny the fact that in Baku there are structures financing the terrorists. The Minister of National Security Namik Abbasov said one of these days that he did not rule out the possibility of such information”. However, it is difficult to understand, what can this mean, but in any case it is evident that the ”Assalam” foundation is functioning not for the first year. In this sense the statement of the head of the department of registration of juridical persons of the Azerbaijani Justice Ministry Fazil Mamedov is very interesting: he confirmed the fact that in 2000 the administration of the fund has made an application for official registration. The law enforcement bodies did not undertake anything to prevent the illegal activity of the fund financing the terrorism.
This is not the first case when the Russian special services reveal the ties of the Chechen terrorists with Azerbaijan. A year ago the assistant to the President of Russia Sergey Yastrzhembski made a statement saying there were undeniable proofs that the Azerbaijani branch of the “Benevolence International Foundation” was accumulating money supposed for financing of the bandit groups fighting against the Federal forces and carrying out terrorist acts in Moscow and Northern Caucasus cities. The leader of the “Benevolence International Foundation” Enaam Arnault confirmed this information. However, up to now Baku remains one of the biggest points of sending arms and money for terrorist in Chechnya. The law enforcement bodies or cannot, or do not want to prevent these activity. All these cause the dissatisfaction of Russian authorities. According to the commentators, as result of the indifference of Azerbaijani Special Forces, a visa regime may be introduced by Moscow. This issue is being already raised in the State Duma.
