RUSSIAN JUSTICE MINISTER GIVES KHASAVYURT ACCORDS THUMBS-DOWN.

Russian justice minister Valentin Kovalev says the peace accords signed in Khasavyurt on August 31 by Lebed and Maskhadov "differ to a significant degree" from the original drafts approved by the Russian government. Kovalev objected to the fact that the norms cited in the Khasvyurt accords are those of international law, not those of Russian law. In other words, they treat Chechnya like a sovereign state and a subject of international law, rather than as a component part of the Russian Federation and a subject of Russian law. Kovalev also complained that the Khasavyurt accords contain no mention of the principle of Russian territorial integrity. (RTR, September 11) The objections expressed by the Justice Minister yesterday are doubtless those that were discussed by Lebed and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin at their meeting on Monday, from which Lebed emerged tight-lipped and concerning which no communique was issued, indicating that the discussion between them had been tense and no agreement had been reached.

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