DATE=6/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA (L)
NUMBER=2-263389
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A French photographer kidnapped last year
while covering the war in Chechnya has been freed. As
we hear from V-O-A Moscow correspondent Peter
Heinlein, the war is again escalating, as Chechen
fighters use guerrilla tactics and suicide attacks to
frustrate Russian troops.
TEXT: Thirty-two-year-old photographer Brice
Fleutiaux was set free in Chechnya Monday, eight-and-
one-half months after he was taken captive in the
capital, Grozny. A Russian Interior Ministry
spokesman says Mr. Fleutiaux was freed as the result
of what was called a "special police operation," but
gave no details.
The photographer was kidnapped last September, just
about the time Russian troops began their massive
ground assault to recapture Chechen territory lost in
the previous war, from 1994 to 1996.
In a video released by Russia's Federal Security
Service shortly after his capture, Mr. Fleutiaux
complained of being kept in a cold cellar and treated
like a dog during his captivity. Russian media
reported the kidnappers were demanding a one-million-
dollar ransom.
/// OPT /// The Reuters news agency Monday quoted a
police spokesman as saying the photographer had "acted
irresponsibly" in sneaking into the war zone in the
company of what he called bandits. The spokesman
said, "people put their lives at risk to rescue him
[Mr. Fleutiaux] from captivity." /// END OPT ///
In another development Monday, Chechen rebels ambushed
a Russian police convoy, triggering a battle that
raged for hours near Argun, 12 kilometers east of
Grozny. Government sources say the Russians responded
with air strikes on suspected rebel positions.
Casualties were reported on both sides, but numbers
could not be confirmed.
Sunday, a suicide bomber blew up a car he was driving
in Grozny after police stopped him and demanded he
open the trunk. Russian and Chechen sources in the
city say four officers died in the attack, but a
federal spokesman in Moscow put the death toll at two
officers and the suicide bomber.
Authorities say the suicide attacks indicate a new
phase in the rebels' fight against Moscow's rule. The
first known case of a suicide bomber in Chechnya
occurred last week, when two Chechen women drove a
truck packed with explosives into a Russian army base
west of Grozny. The rebels say 27 Russians were
killed in the blast, but a federal spokesman reported
two deaths. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE/WTW
12-Jun-2000 07:59 AM EDT (12-Jun-2000 1159 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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