YASTRZHEMBSKY: The Chechen Republic's Mufti Kadyrov sent a message of congratulations to Vladimir Putin today. Let me read out an excerpt from the message: "Please accept my heart-felt congratulations on your election the Russian Federation's president. The choice of the people of Russia indicates that they fully support your course to strengthening the state and legality and improving the economic situation. I was pleased see Chechens freely and consciously expressing their will. The results call for no commentary. The credit of trust issued to you by my people and all citizens of Russia is connected to the hope for the recovery and prosperity of the multiethnic Russia."
But back to the operative situation. I would like to refute several Interfax reports. One gets the impression that there are active hostilities, scaled conflicts in Chechnya. This is not true. Thus, one report says the federal aviation made over 120 sorties to bomb bandit formations in the past 24 hours. In actual fact, the front-line aviation made 28 sorties to deliver blows at groups of bandits. I think a mistake was made without malice. In all, the army aviation indeed made 166 various flights, in particular to carry troops, cargoes, etc. But there were only 28 flights with the use of weapons. Our aviation was mostly bombing the environs of the Tsentoroi village where a unit led by field commander Abulayev had been surrounded. There is information to the effect that the unit had been trying to penetrate Gudermes with the objective of staging acts of terrorism.
The report that 1,500 armed bandits were surrounded at Tsentoroi looks clearly exaggerated. My information is more modest: the military believe that at the start of the operation to exterminate the surrounded unit, there were 150-300 bandits there. To the North of Khatuni in the Vedeno district, the federal troops found and annihilated a well-hidden rebels' base, maybe a reserves depot, which had autos, armoured vehicles, arms, ammunition, warm clothes and food stored. The military hold that similar bases are scattered in the mountainous parts and the foothills of Chechnya and are used by groups of bandits for rest, rearmament and replenishing ammunition with the aim of staging acts of terrorism at later dates.
The Interior Ministry used rapid deployment units, special weapons groups and staffs of provisional interior departments to stage a dozen operations to arrest several active members of bandit formations, seize firearms, ammunition, two bombs and explosives, and to blow up seven underground oil refineries. In the past 24 hours, they checked the IDS of 2,300 people and 1,700 autos throughout the republic.
One more hostage was released - Mansurov, born in 1978, a citizen of North Ossetia-Alania. He was kidnapped on April 15, 1999 and was found and released in the village of Komsomolskoye.
The rebels continue to stage acts of terrorism and subversion, and armed actions. Thus, on March 27, in the course of a special operation, an APC blew up on a mine in the village of Dzhagurty, the Kurchaloy district. A special weapons group soldier from the Belgorod Region was wounded. On the night of March 27-28 in the Grozny district, bandits fired automatic weapons and grenade throwers at a checkpoint at a bridge over the Sundzha, killing one special weapons group soldier, and wounding another.
Information provided by the secret services. In the vicinity of Urus-Martan, the militia detained a foreign mercenary, an Arab, and are trying to establish his place of birth and citizenship. His name is Haled al-Hayed, born in 1968, who arrived in Chechnya a while ago, in January 1998, travelling the well-known route via Turkey and Georgia. We will follow the situation involving this mercenary and I hope I will be able to offer more detailed information to you at a later time.
Another report worthy of attention. In Gudermes, the militia arrested a Khamurzayev, a leader of Wahhabis in Gudermes, on charges of kidnapping Isayevich, a former bodyguard of Doku Zavgayev.
Field commander Gelayev has sworn revenge on field commander Barayev for having failed to come to his assistance during hostilities at Komsomolskoye.
The Justice Ministry reports that the population of the preliminary detention ward at Chernokozovo is now 82 persons; 909 persons have been kept there, of whom 480 have been released; 347 people were taken under convoy outside the Chechen Republic.
The Chechen Republic's Electoral Commission continues summarizing composite protocols of the territorial election commissions. Up to 80% of the ballots have been processed to indicate that Vladimir Putin comes first with 49.4% of the vote, and Gennady Zyuganov comes second with 22.8%.
The military commandants' offices in different parts of Chechnya are preparing to mark 55 years of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, restoring monuments to defenders of the Motherland and soldiers' tombs, and identifying domiciles of the surviving participants in the Great Patriotic War. Gudermes has been picked to provide the venue for the main festivities.
I have told you about the government commission dispatched to Chechnya; its work is over. The commission, whose members represent twenty ministries and agencies, has spent five days meeting with the local administration heads and visiting industrial installations and agricultural facilities. The objective is to build structures of federal authority in the republic.
The Press Ministry is finalising its effort to write two books, White and Black, to analyse activities of the so-called leadership of the Republic of Ichkeria. We hope that the two books, which contain a wealth of information, will be presented to the readership soon.
QUESTION: It was reported yesterday that a participant in the explosion in Volgodonsk had been apprehended. Is there any new information, and what is known about his accomplices?
YASTRZHEMBSKY: This information was reported by Interfax yesterday. I have nothing to add because the investigation is not over yet. Other persons suspected of staging acts of terrorism in peaceful Russian cities are on the federal Wanted lists. There is good reason to believe that some of them may be in the territory of the Chechen Republic.
FRANCE PRESSE: Can you confirm the report that an appreciable number of militants have fought their way into Grozny? And about the Russian convoy reported to be trapped at Maitup?
YASTRZHEMBSKY: No, I cannot confirm the latter, this is the first time I hear about this. We will check and advise you on the phone before the end of the day.
About Grozny, there is no information to the effect, I think it does not correspond to reality. Indeed, the military commandant of Grozny reports that the number of males has grown in the city, that there are sporadic shootouts, especially at night, of checkpoints being shelled, but there is no proof to indicate that large bandit units have fought their way into Grozny. We would have known about this.
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