INGUSHETIA FEARS SPREAD OF WAR.

Ingush president Ruslan Aushev yesterday expressed concern that Russian "military hotheads" may again invade Ingushetia, this time under the pretext of searching for "separatists" among the Chechen refugees. Aushev announced that more than 100,000 Chechen refugees are now registered in Ingushetia and the number keeps growing as a result of the current Russian military offensive in western Chechnya. Most refugees are being accommodated in tents and railway cars at Ingushetia’s own expense while Moscow fails to provide aid, Aushev said. Ingushetia also harbors nearly 50,000 Ingush expelled from North Ossetia with Russian military support. Aushev noted yesterday that Moscow’s failure to ensure that those expelled can return to their homes was rewarding the North Ossetian leadership for its support for the war against Chechnya and penalizing Ingushetia’s criticism of the "mass killing of civilians" by Russian troops. (Interfax, Itar-Tass, March 25)

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