GRACHEV ACCUSES LEBED OF PLOTTING

. On Independent TV4s"Itogi" program July 2, Russian defense minister PavelGrachev accused retired Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed of having incitedsupporters in the 14th Army to resist his release as commanderlast month, and of having destabilized the situation there in "preparation for something bad." Grachev claimed topossess documentary evidence, and implied that an investigationhas been launched. Lebed responded in the July 4 Pravda, denying that he had "plotted" against anyone and threateningto sue. Precisely because Lebed has been doing well in the polls,Grachev is not the only politician to come out against him.Yuri Skokov, leader of the nationalist electoral bloc that Lebedhas joined, has said that Lebed lacks the necessary credentialsfor either president or minister of defense, "Itogi"reported.

Budennovsk Fallout Continues