Chechnya viewpoints: Tom de Waal

The conflict that has raged in Chechnya for the past decade has triggered sharply contrasting views.

To mark the 10th anniversary of Russia's massive military assault on the breakaway republic, BBCrussian.com asked 10 prominent politicians, human rights activists, researchers and journalists to comment.

The panel were asked to answer two classic questions that have troubled Russian thinkers for centuries: "Who is to blame?" and "What can be done?"

Alu Alkhanov: Chechen president "If somebody shows you the road to heaven, it might be laid with skulls" Irina Hakamada: liberal politician "A profoundly erroneous path of peace settlement was chosen" Diederik Lohman: HRW researcher "Peace, not independence, is on Chechens' minds" Konstantin Kosachev: Russian MP "We all agree there should be a political solution" Sultan Yashurkayev: Chechen writer "This is not a war, but a monster-corporation"

Tom de Waal: Caucasus expert "Moscow needs to stop relying on one narrow group -Kadyrovtsy" Valentina Melnikova: Soldiers' mothers "The yearning for a miracle is omnipresent" Mikhail Margelov: Russian MP "Outside forces are a factor in the war for the Caucasus" Lyoma Turpalov: Chechen journalist "Dialogue should result in general parliamentary elections" Akhmed Zakayev: rebel envoy "The war will continue spreading all over the Caucasus"

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TOM DE WAAL, Caucasus Editor and Programme Manager at the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting

WHO IS TO BLAME?

I visited Chechnya three times in 1994 before Russian forces were sent there. It is my strong conviction from those visits that the Chechen dispute was entirely solvable.

QUICK GUIDE The Chechen conflict

Support among the population for Dzhokhar Dudayev was falling and it was a question only of when and on what terms Chechnya would become part of Russia again.

Military intervention - and in particular the criminal destruction of the city of Grozny - made things a thousand times worse and we are still living with the consequences.

So who is to blame? In the first place, Boris Yeltsin and his entourage. And in the second place - Dudayev.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

The current tragedy of Chechnya is that violence has become criminalised and self-perpetuating.

Ordinary Chechens... will agree to any pragmatic solution that respects their basic rights and security Tom de Waal

Ordinary Chechens are exhausted by a decade of destruction and will agree to any pragmatic solution that respects their basic rights and security.

But none of the three main armed protagonists - the Kadyrovtsy, the federal forces or the radical fighters loyal to [warlord Shamil] Basayev - want to give up their power.

Moscow needs to stop relying on one narrow group (currently the Kadyrovtsy) and make Chechnya a parliamentary republic.

And it needs to actively invite international help - in tracking down Basayev, monitoring human rights and beginning real reconstruction.