IN MOSCOW, POWELL COMMENTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS.

Interviewed in Moscow by Russian TV-6 Television on December 9, Secretary of State Colin Powell stated in response to a question about the position of the U.S. administration toward the Russian government’s actions in Chechnya in the wake of the September 11 events: “We noted with interest the speech President Putin made some weeks after September 11, in which he gave his support to our campaign against terror and, in addition, spoke of his desire to settle the crisis in Chechnya. In particular, we told Russia’s representatives that we appreciate the situation, and appreciate the problems that exist. We know that, indeed, there are terrorists in Chechnya. We nevertheless called on Russia to act with care and restraint, and try to find a political solution to that problem and not to forget about human rights, as well as try resolutely to investigate and prosecute those guilty of human rights violations” (TV-6, December 9; BBC Monitoring, December 11).