DATE=8/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA DAGESTAN (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252825
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian president Boris Yeltsin has pledged to
take tough measures to restore order in the troubled
northern Caucasus. But he has ruled out declaring a
state of emergency. As we hear from VOA's Peter
Heinlein in Moscow, Russian government forces in
Dagestan are reporting progress in battling a Muslim
insurgency.
TEXT: On day 10 of the Dagestan campaign, Russian news
agencies say troops inflicted heavy casualties on
Muslim insurgents. The Interfax service reports that
phase-two of the anti-insurgency plan has begun. A
dispatch from the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala, says
government troops have surrounded several rebel-held
villages and are laying mines along escape routes.
Helicopters and jet planes are also reported resuming
air strikes on mountain strongholds used by rebels to
raid government positions.
The heightened military activity in the Dagestani
Mountains prompted neighboring Chechnya to impose a
state of emergency, effective Monday (today). But
President Boris Yeltsin says there will be no similar
declaration in Russia.
///Yeltsin act in Russian, then fade to...///
He says "I state firmly as president of the country
that there will be no emergency. Everything is calm
and normal."
At the same time, however, he pledged to restore order
in the restive northern Caucasus region.
///2nd Yeltsin act in Russian, then fade to...///
He says, "Of course we will take tough measures in the
northern Caucasus. We will restore order in Dagestan
and in other republics." Mr. Yeltsin said his new
Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has the character and
determination to do the job.
Before his appointment as Prime Minister, Mr. Putin
served as head of Russia's domestic intelligence
service, the main successor to the Soviet KGB. The day
he was nominated, he predicted the rebels would be
defeated within two weeks. But a week later, the war
has widened, and is threatening to spill over to other
republics in the region.
The Dagestani government, however, issued a hopeful
sign Monday. In a statement posted on its internet
website, the government says there has been a steady
tendency in boosting the success of federal forces in
the region.
//rest opt// In another development Monday, two Polish
biologists working in the Dagestani Mountains were
reported missing and believed kidnapped. A car
belonging to the women was found abandoned on a high
mountain bridge Sunday. Two Dagestanis travelling with
them are also missing.
The northern Caucasus has been plagued by kidnappings
and other violent crime since the end of the war in
Chechnya in 1996. Western journalists have been warned
to stay out of Dagestan during the current outbreak of
hostilities, and most accounts of the fighting there
are based solely on government sources. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/PCF/PLM
16-Aug-1999 07:02 AM EDT (16-Aug-1999 1102 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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