GOVERNMENT TURNS ATTENTION TO NORTH CAUCASUS.

The new Russian government is promising to pay much more attention to the festering problems of the North Caucasus than its predecessor government did. On September 19, Premier Primakov chaired a meeting on ways to resolve the ongoing conflict between Ingush and Ossetians over the Prigorodny district. The meeting was attended not only by Presidents Aleksandr Dzasokhov of North Ossetia and Ruslan Aushev of Ingushetia, but also by the heads of almost all Russia’s law enforcement agencies, from the Army and the Interior Ministry to the secret police. Inter-ethnic conflict continues to simmer in the region, however. Yesterday, Russia’s newly appointed First Deputy Premier, Vadim Gustov, announced that preparations are underway for a large congress on the problems of the North Caucasus, to be held in the last week of October (Russian agencies, September 22). Also yesterday, supporters of Dagestani leader Magomet Khachilaev began a protest march to Marrakech to demand his release from pre-trial detention (RTR, September 22).

PRIMAKOV HONORS LUKASHENKA.