DATE=2/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259048
BYLINE=BILL GASPERINI
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
INTRO: Russian and Chechen leaders are promising
to continue waging all-out war against each
other. Bill Gasperini in Moscow reports that
after five months of heavy fighting there are no
signs things will change anytime soon.
TEXT: Russian military officials say they will
soon launch what they call a "final strike"
against Chechen fighters in the breakaway
republic.
Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev says up to 50
thousand ground troops will move into the
southern mountains to attack rebels there.
Russian aircraft are already pounding suspected
Chechen positions in the mountains, using large
one-and-a-half ton bombs for the first time in
the war.
Artillery strikes will follow against the
thousands of rebels who are based in the
mountains.
Thousands more fighters have been making their
way up into the rugged terrain after leaving the
capital, Grozny, last week.
Chechen field commanders say the retreat from
Grozny was tactical, and that the fight will go
on.
Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov went even
further. In a videotaped message, he said his
fighters have started what he called a "full-
scale guerrilla war" against Russian troops.
Mr. Maskhadov also criticized Western countries
for failing to put pressure on Russia after it
launched the new war against Chechnya five months
ago.
He was elected Chechen president three years ago
in elections pronounced free and fair by foreign
observers.
Russia has refused to negotiate with the Chechen
president, saying he failed to control rebels,
whom Moscow considers terrorists.
Now Mr. Maskhadov has reassumed his earlier role
as overall military leader of the resistance to
the Russians, operating from an undisclosed
location. (Signed)
NEB/BG/GE/KL
11-Feb-2000 07:19 AM EDT (11-Feb-2000 1219 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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