Poland's Prosecutor General's Office has not issued an arrest warrant for exiled Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev, but police will detain him if he arrives in Warsaw for a Chechen congress, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The World Congress of Chechen People, which Zakayev is invited to, is due to take place in Warsaw on September 16-18.
A Polish police spokesman said earlier on Wednesday that the Prosecutor General's Office had issued an arrest warrant for Zakayev.
"This information was false. The Polish prosecutor's office has not issued an additional arrest warrant against Akhmed Zakayev because there is no case against him in Poland," Mateusz Martyniuk said, adding that Zakayev, prime minister of the self-styled Chechen republic of Ichkeria, will still be detained if he sets his foot on the Polish soil.
Anna Kyun, a spokeswoman for the World Congress of Chechen People, told RIA Novosti on Wednesday that Zakayev had been to Poland three weeks ago and had faced no problems.
"I personally met with Zakayev in Poland three weeks ago," she said, adding that she could not confirm media reports that Zakayev was in Poland at the moment.
In 2002, British authorities granted political asylum to Zakayev and he currently lives in London.
Russia, which issued an arrest warrant for Zakayev in 2001, has accused him of terrorist activities and repeatedly asked Britain to extradite him, but the request has invariably been refused.
While the Russian authorities claim he aims to reignite the separatist movement in the troubled North Caucasus, Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov says he will welcome Zakayev's return to Chechnya.
WARSAW, September 15 (RIA Novosti)
