 French intelligence was able to listen in on everything that transpired.Former foreign minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Ilyas Akhmadov believed the article about Basayev and Voloshin meeting in Nice on July 4, 1999 wasn't based on fact, and Basayev hadn't actually been in Nice.According to Akhmadov, Basayev was portrayed in shorts while Chechen men, especially fighters, do not wear shorts.