…AS DUDAEV’S CAMP CALLS FOR START OF NEGOTIATIONS.

Chechen president Djohar Dudaev yesterday called for accelerating the start of mediated political negotiations with Russia, naming Turkey as a possible mediator in addition to those previously suggested. Upon returning from Chechnya yesterday, Rafael Hakimov, advisor to Tatarstan president and potential mediator Mintimer Shaimiev, reported to the Kremlin that Dudaev’s units are freely moving throughout Chechnya with the population’s support and that Russian troops mostly control only the highways. (Interfax, NTV, Western agencies, April 15 & 16)

Russo-Chinese Free Economic Zone.