FEDERAL TROOPS TO LINGER IN CHECHNYA.

Speaking at a hearing conducted by the Russian State Duma on June 4, Lord Frank Judd of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) confided that European parliamentarians had been “inspired” by the announced intention of the Russian authorities to reduce the number of Russian federal troops in Chechnya. The following day, however, Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Gryzlov announced that “an additional 1,500 soldiers” belonging to the OMON special units of the MVD would shortly be dispatched to Chechnya and that they would remain there “for a long time” (Agence France Presse, NTV.ru, June 5).