PRO-MOSCOW POLICE FACE PURGE.

Citing the newspaper of the Russian military commandants’ offices of Chechnya, Vozrozhdenie Respubliki [Rebirth of the Republic], Interfax-AVN reported on July 23 that “a major purge will be conducted in the ranks of the [pro-Moscow] police of the Chechen Republic in the near future.” “The Russian special services,” the report continued, “have received new information that rebels and their accomplices have penetrated the structures of the [pro-Moscow Chechen] police.” “Chechen Police Suspected of Treason” read a headline subsequently appearing in the July 25 issue of Gazeta.ru. Writing about the impressions he gained from a recent guided tour to the Chechen capital, journalist David Filipov observed: “On the journalists’ tour, the tension between federal troops and pro-Moscow Chechens was palpable. Sentries at the main Russian base in Chechnya refused entry to Chechen police accompanying the reporters. At Chechen police headquarters, guards refused to let the journalists’ Russian [military] escorts inside” (Boston Globe, July 22).