Taleban calls for negotiated Chechen settlement

The Taleban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has urged the Islamic Conference Organisation and the UN to put pressure on Russia to solve the Chechen crisis through negotiation.

Mullah Omar told the BBC that Chechnya concerned all Islamic states and they wouldn't tolerate the continuing war.

He warned the Russians to stop their offensive and said the Taleban would do whatever it could to support the Chechens.

Mullah Omar's remarks follow a statement by the Taleban earlier this week that it recognised Chechnya as an independent state.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service