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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 4, No. 206, Part I, 24 October 2000

RUSSIA TO ASK GEORGIA TO EXTRADITE CHECHENS. Russian
presidential aide Serghei Yastrzhembskii said in Moscow on 23
October that Russia will ask Tbilisi to extradite any of the
Chechen fighters who surrendered in Georgia the previous day
and are suspected of involvement in terrorism, the slave
trade, or the execution of hostages, Interfax reported.
Yastrzhembskii suggested that the Chechens may have been part
of the force of field commander Ruslan Gelaev, who is rumored
to be in Georgia (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No.
41, 21 October 2000). Prime News likewise identified the
Chechens, who said they had entered Georgia after being
subjected to a grenade attack by Russian forces in
Ingushetia's Assa gorge, as Gelaev's men, adding that Gelaev
had tried one month ago to recruit fighters among the Chechen
refugees who have settled in Georgia's Pankisi gorge. Russian
border guards deny, however, that the Chechens could have
entered Georgia via Ingushetia, saying that Russian border
guards fully control that border. LF

Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
http://www.rferl.org