RUSSIAN WORD ON FRED CUNY.

US Deputy Secretary of StateStrobe Talbott relayed a claim by Russian officials that FredCuny is still alive and is being held by the Chechens, his familysaid at a Washington press conference June 26. Russian officialshave often made such claims in the past but provided no evidencefor them; Chechen authorities have denied holding the Americanaid worker who has been missing in the region since April 9. Cuny’sfamily and friends also said that they were very unhappy withthe level of cooperation they had received from Moscow despiteYeltsin’s pledge to Clinton at the summit that he would do everythingpossible to help find Cuny.

Chernomyrdin, Li Peng Discuss Military Cooperation.