MOSCOW WORRIED BY INCREASING INDEPENDENCE OF REGIONS.

Yeltsin’sstaff is concerned that Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and Kabardino-Balkariyahave exceeded their authority by making agreements with Georgia’sAbkhaz region, Russian radio reported July 29, citing unnamedsources at the Russian foreign ministry. Moscow recently has tiltedtoward Tbilisi in the Georgian dispute with the breakaway republicof Abkhazia.

Chechen Forces Seize, Release Hostages in Daghestan.