That same despair prompted the appalling hostage-taking in Moscow in October, which resulted in the deaths of 41 attackers, and of 129 hostages.The Chechen struggle is now firmly in the hands of the radicals, whose methods could reflect their new partnerships with other fundamentalist movements such as Hamas. It was no coincidence that the suicide commando who staged the Moscow theatre hostage-taking was shown on al-Jazeera television, in an alarming sign that they are now trying to appeal to a broader audience in the same way as the Hamas suicide bombers who have left a trail of death through Israeli cities.The elected Chechen President, Aslan Maskhadov, who denounced the theatre hostage-taking, is a fugitive. One of his spokesmen, the Chechen actor Akhmed Zakayev, is fighting extradition charges in London. It is to be hoped that the spurious terrorist charges against him are thrown out, as they were in Denmark, where he was arrested after Moscow attempted to suggest that he was linked to the theatre outrage. Mr Zakayev says, with justification, that if he is sent to Moscow, it would signal that Europe is in agreement with the way Russia has decided to fight against the Chechen nation.It was Moscow’s refusal to engage in any dialogue with the moderate Mr Maskhadov that sent the Chechen President into the arms of the Saudi-funded radicals But that does not mean that all dialogue is impossible. As in other conflicts of this nature around the world, eventually it will come.To end this war, whose principal victims have above all been civilians, Mr Putin must show courage and statesmanship and engage in dialogue with real Chechen representatives – not the officials appointed by Moscow who were targeted by yesterday’s bombing.So far, though, the signs are not encouraging.

Every time Mr Putin airs his views on Chechnya, he shows an emotive side to his personality that few thought he possessed. At his last press conference, he colourfully suggested that a French journalist should be castrated. It is a testament to the sensitivity of the Chechen question in Russia’s politics. But the alternative is more bloodshed in the secret war that is turning into a second Afghanistan for Russian armed forces..

What is an asylum-seeker? To a lot of people in this country “asylum-seeker” has become a term of abuse. Not so long ago I even heard a girl use the phrase “asylum creeper” about someone I asked her what she meant. She said that an asylum creeper was someone who hung out with asylum-seekers. It reminded me of when I was young and some women were called “black man lover”, simply because they happened to be friends with someone with black skin. It also reminded me, as a writer, about what that debate is doing to our language.When Ruud Lubbers, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, talks about Britain taking more than its “fair share” of asylum-seekers I wonder what he can mean by that.