The U.S. Charge d' Affaires in Moscow, Daniel Russel, said the United States maintains its position in the war on terrorism. Washington definitely regards Basayev as an international terrorist, he added.
Russel's comments have been included in a commentary posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.
Ministry officials summoned the U.S. diplomat Friday to voice their indignation over the airing of an interview with Basayev on ABC, a U.S. TV network.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes the airing of the interview runs contrary to a UN Security Council resolution.
"The international community acknowledges Basayev as a terrorist, and he is included in the UN Security Council's list of terrorists, at the initiative of several countries including the U.S. Questions arise over the U.S.'s fulfillment of its obligations, in particular UNSC Resolution 1379 (2001), which demands that UN members 'refrain from providing support in any form, active or passive, to organizations or individuals involved in acts of terrorism,'" the ministry statement said.
The document says that airtime was given to one of the most loathsome Chechen militants, guilty of organizing numerous terrorist attacks, including the Dubrovka Theater siege and the Beslan School massacre, in which hundreds of innocent civilians were killed, including children.
Russia expressed regret that ABC management ignored the official request from the Russian Embassy in Washington that the channel not broadcast the interview.
In the interview, Basayev justified the terrorist attack at the Moscow theater and the plane bombings last summer, and said that even in Beslan, where 330 people were killed, he "had not crossed the line yet." Basayev openly called himself a terrorist and said he is ready to carry out new terrorist attacks.
