DATE=8/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHECHNYA ELECTION (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-265668
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Chechens went to the polls Sunday to elect
their representative to Russia's parliament. Turnout
was light as many voters stayed at home after rebel
threats of violence. Correspondent Laurie Kassman
reports from Moscow.
TEXT: Chechen voters are electing a deputy to
represent them in the Russian parliament. But most
voters told reporters they would not vote for
candidates they did not know. There are 13 candidates
in the race.
Human rights organizations have called the vote a
farce and predicted a low turnout. By late afternoon,
less than one half the registered 465 thousand voters
had cast a ballot.
Itar-Tass news agency reports that almost all the 23
thousand Russian soldiers based now in Chechnya have
voted.
More than 380 polling stations were set up across the
republic, many of them in military installations. A
ballot box was also located near Chechen refugee camps
in neighboring Ingushetia.
Chechen rebels attacked some polling stations on
Saturday and soldiers were reported injured in
overnight clashes. Residents of one village had to
douse a fire in the local administrative building
after a grenade was thrown through the window a few
hours before the polls opened.
Chechnya's leader (Mufti Akhmad Kadyrov), appointed by
the Kremlin, told the Interfax news agency the
election of a Duma deputy would make Chechnya a
legitimate part of Russia.
Country-wide parliamentary elections last December did
not include Chechnya because of heavy fighting there.
Russia's military has been waging battle in Chechnya
for the past year against rebels they consider Islamic
terrorists. Moscow's military campaign has aimed to
re-occupy Chechnya after a humiliating withdrawal in
1996 after rebels had recaptured the capital, Grozny.
The rebel victory marked the end of a two-year civil
war that left Chechnya with de-facto independence.
(Signed)
NEB/LK/DW/KL
20-Aug-2000 12:36 PM EDT (20-Aug-2000 1636 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
