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DATE=11/5/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L-ONLY) (CQ)
NUMBER=2-255871
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Russian air and artillery attacks continue 
against suspected Islamic terrorists in Chechnya, but 
a top Russian official is urging refugees from the 
breakaway republic to return to their homes, under the 
protection of Russian troops.  V-O-A Moscow 
correspondent Eve Conant reports there is increasing 
international pressure on Russia to ease the military 
campaign in Chechnya.
TEXT:  Russia's Emergency Situations Minister, Sergei 
Shoigu, promised refugees they would be protected by 
Russian troops if they return to what he calls 
"liberated villages."
Mr. Shoigu says the Russian government is setting up 
camps in the northern third of Chechnya that can 
accommodate tens of thousands of refugees.
But refugees fleeing from Chechnya into (the 
neighboring republic of) Ingushetia say they are 
afraid to return, and do not trust the Russian 
military after weeks of heavy bombings in civilian 
areas.
Russian aircraft continued to pummel targets 
throughout Chechnya Friday.  Military sources said 
Russian jets had flown 100 sorties over the past 24 
hours, hitting targets near the Chechen capital, 
Grozny, as well as the towns of Bamut and Samashki. 
Several hundred refugees have reportedly fled to 
Georgia, which borders Chechnya.  Russia's Prime 
Minister Vladimir Putin has suggested that Russia 
might require entry visas for citizens of Georgia and 
Azerbaijan - because, he says, militants can travel 
too easily between those sates and Chechnya.
Mr. Putin met Friday in Moscow with Turkish Prime 
Minister Bulent Ecevit, and they signed a joint 
declaration condemning terrorism and pledging their 
coperation in the effort to control terrorist 
activities.  The statement did not specifically 
mention Chechnya, but the Russian Prime Minister 
welcomed it as a mark of support for Moscow's 
policies.
/// PUTIN ACT IN RUSSIAN--IN FULL AND FADE UNDER///
"Many of the bandits are hiding behind religious 
Muslim slogans and compromising Islam," says Prime 
Minister Putin. "We count on the support of the world 
community and Islamic countries."
                    /// REST OPT ///
President Boris Yeltsin also stayed clear of Chechnya 
talks Friday, meeting with Armenia's President Robert 
Kocharian to discuss another conflict in the Caucasus 
(region): Armenia's continuing dispute with Azerbaijan 
over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.   
(Signed)
NEB/EC/GE/JO/WTW
05-Nov-1999 17:00 PM EDT (05-Nov-1999 2200 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.