DATE=2/10/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA - BABITKSY (S)
NUMBER=2-259014
BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Officials from Russia's Chechen republic now
deny that a missing Radio Liberty reporter is in their
hands. Bill Gasperini in Moscow reports this latest
statement adds to the confusion surrounding the case
of Andrei Babitsky, a Russian citizen who has been
missing in Chechnya since being detained by the
Russian military last month.
TEXT: A top official with the Chechen government says
Andrei Babitsky is not being held by Chechen
commanders in the war-torn region.
Ilya Akhmadov, who the Chechens call their foreign
minister, told a Moscow radio station that earlier
reports about the missing reporter are not true.
On Wednesday, another Chechen official said Mr.
Babitsky had been handed over by Russian soldiers in a
controversial prisoner exchange last week.
Yet another denial has come from the leader of a
Chechen militia which has been fighting alongside the
Russians against militants in the region. Beslan
Gantamirov says his men are not holding Mr.
Babitsky.
All of this only deepens the mystery about the
journalist, who angered Russian leaders with his
reports from behind Chechen lines.
On Wednesday, the U-S State Department called on the
Russian government to clarify what has happened to Mr.
Babitsky. (Signed)
NEB/BG/JWH/PLM
10-Feb-2000 06:31 AM EDT (10-Feb-2000 1131 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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