DATE=2/10/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA TRAIN / CHECHENS L-ONLY
NUMBER=2-259028
BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Chechen rebels have ambushed Russian military
trains in the first major raid since they pulled out
of the capital Grozny. This, as Russian forces
continue to pound rebel positions in Southern Chechnya
while Moscow is promising to send a substantial amount
of aid to restore basic services in Grozny. Bill
Gasperini reports.
TEXT: Chechen fighters detonated remote-controlled
mines under a train in a Russian-occupied area not far
from Grozny. The rebels also damaged a second train
by firing grenades at its engine. They retreated
after Russian troops arrived.
The attack demonstrates the vulnerability of the
Russians in occupying Chechnya, as the rebels make
good on promises to launch hit-and-run attacks.
Russia has now shifted the focus of the war effort to
the southern mountains, bombing suspected Chechen
positions there with one-point-five ton bombs.
Moscow is now opening up a political front as well,
earmarking millions of dollars to help restore basic
services in the devastated region. At a meeting in
Moscow, Acting President Vladimir Putin unveiled a
plan to bring young people from the Caucasus region to
other parts of Russia to study.
/// PUTIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, FADE UNDER ///
"We need to help this region and this republic," he
says. "We need to extract people from the chaos where
they found themselves for a long time, put them in a
normal human environment so they can grow up not
surrounded by violence, but with the ideals of
education and kindness."
The decision to restore services has been tried
before, during the first Chechen war several years
ago. Then as now, Russia occupied most of Chechnya
and earmarked large amounts of money to bring the
rebel region back into the fold.
But most of the funds were embezzled by corrupt
officials, including the leader of a Chechen militia
who is now fighting alongside the Russians. After
more than a year under occupation, the Chechens retook
the capital Grozny and the Russians withdrew. (signed)
NEB/BG/JO
10-Feb-2000 14:39 PM EDT (10-Feb-2000 1939 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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