28 January 2010, 19:00
The Daily Telegraph: to transform Chechnya into resort, they need to catch Doku Umarov
If Chechnya copes with turning into a mounting skiing resort, as President Ramzan Kadyrov dreams, then, in the opinion of western experts, "it will be one of the most radical breakthroughs in global tourism."
Let us remind you that Chechnya started erecting a tourist complex. "The works are on for a week already. Experts are already in place - between the Shatoy and Itumkalin Districts - busy making measurements and other surveys," Mr Kadyrov told journalists on January 22 after the sitting of the State Council of the Russian Federation.
"Courchevel, Saint-Moritz... or Chechnya?" - The Daily Telegraph used the heading to write about Ramzan Kadyrov's plans to transform Chechnya into a mounting skiing resort, in nothing inferior than the French Courchavel. "The southern republic is more known for terror acts, kidnappings and two severe wars, than for mountain-skiing parties," the edition marked.
To make the "mountain-skiing Chechnya a reality", the edition believes, it is necessary to catch or liquidate, in particular, the leader of North-Caucasian militants Doku Umarov, who is presumably still hiding in the region.
However, as the newspaper notes, so far, the Russian Foreign Office recommends that tourists abstain from visiting Chechnya: kidnappings are still a serious threat there.