BASAYEV: RUSSIAN MILITARY SELLS CHECHNYA WEAPONS.

In anotherextensive media interview, this time with the July 25 Segodnya,the leader of the Chechen raid on Budennovsk Shamil Basayev saidthat Russian officers were the primary source of weapons and ammunitionfor the Chechen fighters. He said that it is "easier"to buy weapons from the Russian army than to import them via Daghestanor Georgia (Russian radio reported July 24 that arms were stillflowing into Chechnya via Daghestan) and noted that the Chechenshad purchased several Grad missiles for $20 a piece and a largernumber of grenade launchers for $3 each. In other comments, hedenied that he had any nuclear weapons, said that Russian commandershad used their new telephone links with the Chechens only to explainwhy Russian forces were breaking the truce, and asserted thathe would execute the Chechen negotiating team if they failed toinsist on Chechnya’s independence. Basayev also said that theRussian government had not captured him because "it is notin their interests." "If they want to put me on trial,they will have to answer for their own crimes," he said,and added that when the Russians were reporting that Basayev wasin Pakistan, he was in fact in Rostov and Moscow.

Moscow Reportedly Sends North Caucasians to Guard Nuclear Plants.