A leading Chechen militant has denied assertions that Osama bin Laden\'s al Qaeda movement is linked to Chechen rebels fighting Moscow. In a statement published on a rebel Web site on Tuesday, Movladi Udugov said the international Islamist militant group had never set up training camps in Chechnya. He also denied meeting bin Laden. Russia has long said the Chechen rebels are linked to international terrorists, saying its 10-year war in the rebel province is a key front in the U.S.-led war on terror. \"This is a total lie and crude provocation,\" said Udugov, a propagandist for the rebels, on Web site www.kavkazcenter.com in response to a declassified U.S. intelligence report published by U.S. pressure group Judicial Watch. \"It is not even worth proving this is false.\" The report, which Judicial Watch said had been released under U.S. freedom of information laws, detailed al Qaeda\'s efforts in Chechnya and said the region would be a good area to train militants since Western countries could not attack it. The alleged links between the two movements have muted Western criticism of Russian conduct in Chechnya, where troops are accused of human rights abuses. British and U.S. officials have said Chechens are helping insurgents in Iraq. Extremist rebels led by warlord Shamil Basayev have also adopted tactics similar to those used by al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, sending suicide bombers and hostage-takers to attack civilians. President Vladimir Putin specifically blamed al Qaeda-linked groups for downing two Russian airliners in August, and other officials said the group was behind the Beslan school hostage crisis in September, when more than 350 people died. Udugov said such allegations were unfounded. \"There have never been any al Qaeda training camps in Chechnya or anywhere else (in the Caucasus). If it is so, let them give the addresses,\" he said. \"It is sufficient to remember the false claims about Chechen fighters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. As is well-known, neither the Russians, nor the Americans, nor the British have produced a single fact to back up their claims. Apart from constant lies there is nothing.\" (Reuters)