HIGH TURNOUT HIGH IN CHECHEN ELECTION; MASKHADOV LEADS IN EARLY RETURNS.

Reports from Chechnya indicate that Aslan Maskhadov received approximately 55 percent of the votes counted so far in yesterday’s presidential election. The elections passed peacefully. According to the republic’s Central Election Commission, 57 percent of the voters, or 255,000 people, had voted by 8 PM Moscow time. That turnout is more than enough to validate the elections. Since the outlying regions of the republic are inaccessible either by telephone or by radio, the real number of voters is probably significantly larger. (NTV, January 27)

Moscow Ready to Work with New Chechen Government.