CHECHENS ACCUSE DAGESTANI OFFICIAL OF INVOLVEMENT IN KIDNAPPINGS.

A policeman was killed yesterday morning in the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt, close to the border with Chechnya. (NTV, November 9) This latest murder has exacerbated the already tense situation in the border region. (See Monitor, November 7) A Dagestani government delegation, including the country’s nationalities and external relations minister, Alikh Gusaev, and Security Council secretary Magomed Tolboev, set off yesterday for Khasavyurt. The delegation is expected to hold talks with the Chechen side on the border situation.

The Chechen leadership, however, has already accused Dagestan of sending armed groups into Chechen territory to commit terrorist acts. Yesterday, Chechen first deputy prime minister Movladi Udugov also accused Tolboev of being involved in kidnappings. These accusations, which Tolboev denies, may have been provoked by the tough statements he made following last week’s abduction of eight policemen in the Dagestani village of Aksai. (NTV, November 9)

Today’s issue of Nezavisimaya gazeta accuses Moscow of being the real culprit for tensions on the Dagestani-Chechen border. The paper, which is controlled by Boris Berezovsky, says the Kremlin’s failure to develop a coordinated policy toward the Northern Caucasus over the last six years has resulted in high unemployment and a desperate economic situation there. Turing to crime is the only way people can make ends meet, the newspaper says. (Nezavisimaya gazeta, November 10)

Russian Opposition Group Claims Responsibility for Sabotage.