TALYSH SECESSIONIST LEADER DIES IN PRISON.

Alikram Gummatov, leader of the would-be Talysh-Mugan republic, died on November 14 in an Azerbaijani prison. He had been sentenced to death in 1996 on charges of high treason, endangering the country’s territorial integrity, and creating unlawful armed units. Gummatov had led an abortive effort to establish a secessionist republic of the Talysh ethnic group in southeastern Azerbaijan. Ill with tuberculosis, Gummatov was not executed but was kept in solitary confinement until his death. (Turan, September 11, November 14)

Yeltsin Sacks Three Top Officials but Lets Chubais Off with a Warning.