Chechens exuberant but cautious on peace deal .
Liutauras Stremaitis
URUS-MARTAN , Russia 1996-08-31
Crowds of pro-independence Chechens greeted a newly-signed peace deal by singing , dancing and firing guns in the air on Saturday , but the celebrations held a trace of uncertainty .
More than a thousand women , children and men gathered in a field to the north of the town of Urus-Martan on Saturday to wait for a column of rebels to withdraw from the capital Grozny about 25 km ( 12 miles ) away .
The men fired weapons into the air as groups of women danced .
Adults in the crowd carried posters of former Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev -- who declared independence in 1991 -- and children , carrying photographs of him , called " Troops out ! "
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Russian military officials have expressed fears that the rebels and their supporters will see the deal signed by Russian peace envoy Alexander Lebed in the early hours of Saturday as a military victory for the separatists .
It involves the withdrawal of Russian troops sent to Chechnya in December 1994 to crush the separatists and a postponement of the issue at the heart of the conflict -- the status of the mainly-Moslem North Caucasus region .
But the people in the crowd on Saturday , who had turned out in support of the rebels , did not seem sure that the war was over .
" We hope for the best , that it really has ended so we can live in peace .
It 's our only dream , " said a 30-year-old woman , Mubatik Dagayeva .
Aiza Dudayeva , with her 10-year-old son beside her , shared the guarded optimism . "
We really want the war to end , we hope and believe that our sons and brothers will win , " said Dudayeva , adding that she was from Urus-Martan .
Urus-Martan is a traditionally anti-separatist pocket in Chechnya and Moscow-backed leader Doku Zavgayev , who has been sidelined in the peace deal , has warned that it and places like it could become centres of civil war if Russian troops leave .
But on Saturday the people gathered just outside the town seemed to be united in favour of the separatists .
Two columns of rebels appeared in jeeps and cars , firing their guns in the air , as the crowd rushed towards them .
Mouldi Mamatuyev , in his late 20 's , dressed in black and carrying a machine gun , was welcomed by his mother and sister .
" Two sons have come back , " said his mother Nurbika Mamatuyeva . "
It 's the end .
We believe in God . "
Mamatuyev joked that his sister Lisa was a rebel too , and she responded by grabbing hold of his gun and shouting the Chechen war cry " Allahu Akhbar " ( God is Greatest ) and " Freedom for Chechnya ! "
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The fighter , sitting next to a man dressed in green and carrying a grenade-launcher , said that the strict Islamic law adopted by the rebels during the conflict was now needed to impose peace .
" The war has ended if everything works out , if there is law there will be power .
Only Sheriat ( Islamic law ) can end the war . "