DATE=2/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L)
NUMBER=2-259517
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russia's Acting President Vladimir Putin says
Moscow will not negotiate with Chechen representatives
until rebel forces are defeated. Moscow Correspondent
Eve Conant reports Chechen rebels say they are
offering stiff resistance to Russian troops attacking
the Shatoi rebel stronghold.
TEXT: Acting President Putin promises to carry out
Moscow's military operation in Chechnya to the end,
but says there are forces with which Moscow could
negotiate once the fighting has ended.
Mr. Putin told a Russian radio station all social,
economic, and political questions will be settled
peacefully around the negotiating table."
Meanwhile, Russia's air force says it is carrying out
more than 100-sorties a day over Chechnya's
mountainous south in an effort to drive Chechen rebels
from their mountain bases. Warplanes are targeting
Chechnya's Argun and Vedeno gorges that lead into the
region's southern mountains. Russian troops say they
have captured the heights around the guerilla holdout
of Shatoi.
But the rebel's Internet website says fighters are
inflicting casualties on Russian troops and have
destroyed several federal helicopters. Russian
officials estimate more than two-thousand rebels are
defending the Shatoi region and say up to eight-
thousand rebels are based in the mountains.
Russian news agencies say Chechnya's border might be
re-opened Friday. The border was closed this week to
refugee and other traffic for fear of Chechen
terrorist attacks.
Also Friday, Russia's parliament will review a
proposal by Acting President Vladimir Putin to extend,
until April First, an amnesty for rebels willing to
lay down their weapons. (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/JWH/RAE
24-Feb-2000 09:38 AM EDT (24-Feb-2000 1438 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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