BRITISH AMBASSADOR APPEALS FOR RELEASE OF HOSTAGES.

Britain’s ambassador to Russia appeared on Chechen TV on July 2 to appeal for help from Chechen residents in securing the release of Camilla Carr and Jon James, two young British aid workers taken hostage in Chechnya on July 3 last year. The ambassador said that the two have no money to pay a ransom, and that it is not the practice of the British government to pay for the release of hostages as this would put other British citizens at risk. (Itar-Tass, July 3) He spoke at a time when Moscow was buzzing with rumors that President Yeltsin’s representative in the region, Valentin Vlasov, will shortly be released. Vlasov was kidnapped on May 1 this year and is believed to be held somewhere in Dagestan.

INGUSH MINISTER RELEASED.