MIKHAILOV REJECTS SHUMEIKO PROPOSAL ON CHECHEN-INGUSH MERGER.

The chief Russian negotiator in Chechnya, Vyacheslav Mikhailov,dismissed Federation Council chairman Vladimir Shumeiko’s notionthat Ingush president Ruslan Aushev should represent Chechen-Ingushetiyain future regional negotiations. He characterized Shumeiko’s positionas the work of "a man with a political imagination,"Interfax reported July 19. Shumeiko’s proposal, however, doesreflect the thinking of some in Moscow who believe that the restorationof the Chechen-Ingush republic, split apart in 1992, might helpend the war.

Duma to Present Conflicting Reports on Chechen War.