RUSSIA’S PROSECUTOR GENERAL SAYS CHECHNYA PEACE ACCORDS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

Russian prosecutor general Yuri Skuratov has declared that from a legal standpoint the Khasavyurt accords, putting an end to the fighting in Chechnya, contradict the Russian Constitution on a number of points. The accords cannot, therefore, serve as the legal basis for defining relations between Russia and Chechnya, Skuratov said. (NTV, ORT, October 10) The Prosecutor General’s opinion matches that expressed by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin in his speech to the Federation Council on October 8. Chernomyrdin, while praising Aleksandr Lebed for putting an end to the war in Chechnya, stressed that what was signed in Khasavyurt was only a framework document, and that Moscow does not feel bound by any specific obligations towards the Chechen opposition leadership. (See Monitor, October 9)

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