Chechen official talks peace with separatist Zakayev
(Recasts with Zakayev, details, changes dateline from MOSCOW)
OSLO, July 24 (Reuters) - A senior Chechen official held talks in Norway on Friday with prominent separatist figure Akhmed Zakayev, who said they had agreed to seek a political settlement of rebellion in the south Russian region.
Zakayev represents the moderate wing of the separatist movement and has no real influence on insurgents in Chechnya. But any definite statement of support for the Kremlin-backed government would mark a psychological victory for Moscow.
"We discussed political issues being solved not by force but by political means, and I am happy that Russia will participate in this process," Zakayev told reporters in an Oslo hotel where he and the speaker of Chechnya's parliament held talks.
Speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov did not say what practical decisions were achieved at the meeting but said the Oslo talks were part of a wider push by the authorities to stabilise the political situation in Chechnya and "consolidate" society.
The two sides plan to meet again in London next month, where more details about the planned peace process could be revealed, Zakayev said.
Abdurakhmanov said through an interpreter he hoped the peace process would "not take a long time" and said that no external mediators were needed.
EXTRADITION
Chechnya Peace Forum head Ivar Amundsen, who helped set up the Oslo talks, told reporters that representatives from Moscow's embassy in Oslo were present at the meeting.
"Russia recognises that they cannot pressurise Chechnya into peace -- that it must grow from the bottom, so there is more realism in this (approach)," Amundsen said.
Zakayev, 50, fought Russia as a senior rebel commander in two wars with Moscow in 1994-2000. After Russia regained control of the province, he fled to Europe and acted as an official rebel envoy until 2007. Russia seeks the extradition of Zakayev, who now lives in London, for 13 alleged crimes including kidnapping and murder. But his extradition request was rejected by a British court in 2003 causing a diplomatic row.
Zakayev rejected media reports that he was about to come back to his home province, which has faced a surge in violence in recent months, saying only that he hoped to return one day. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said earlier this month that he would welcome Zakayev's return and possibly offer him a job in the regional culture ministry. But there were no indications Russia was ready to drop charges against him.
The negotiations with Zakayev began as Russia faces a fresh surge of violence in the turbulent Caucasus region. Hit and run attacks on Russian troops and local officials have become more frequent in Chechnya and its neighbours Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Russia has in recent years sought to isolate Islamist rebels, by measures including amnesties and enlistment of support from moderate opposition leaders. (Writing by Oleg Shchedrov and Wojciech Moskwa; editing by Ralph Boulton)
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