Yeltsin Halts Talks With Chechen Rebels Hard-Liners Want State Of Emergency To Renew Military Operations
Russia Monday suspended participation in talks with Chechen rebels on a schedule for disarmament and troop pullout as tensions in the secessionist region increased following a bomb attack that gravely wounded Russia’s top military commander in the area.
President Boris Yeltsin was considering the declaration of a “state of emergency” in Chechnya, sought by hard-liners who want renewed military operations. But other Russian officials said such a declaration would be ineffective, or unnecessary. Chechen separatists also warned that it could unleash a new wave of fighting.
As of Monday night, Yeltsin had not made a decision. But the announcement that the military talks on disarmament and withdrawal were being suspended was the latest sign that the accord signed July 30 is under increasing strain.
Russian Maj. Gen. Viktor Vlasenkov told reporters in Grozny, the Chechen capital, that the decision to suspend work on the Special Observer Commission was made “in connection with the deteriorating situation” and the serious condition of the Russian commander in Chechnya, Lt. Gen. Anatoly Romanov, the target of the attack Friday.
Romanov’s convoy was hit by two radio-controlled explosive devices as it passed through an underpass in central Grozny, killing his driver and an aide and injuring at least 15 other people. Romanov has remained unconscious in a Moscow hospital.
It is not clear who was responsible for the attack, and each side has blamed extremists on the other. It was the second bomb attack in recent weeks directed at a senior Russian official in Chechnya, and it seemed designed to disrupt the negotiations.
The military talks, aimed at settling on a timetable for weapons surrender and Russian troop pullouts, had been going slowly. Russian officials said they were only suspending participation in the special commission.
A Chechen spokesman, Movladi Udugov, said that unless the military agreement is carried out, “the situation will worsen even more.”
He told Interfax news agency that “the war in Chechnya has not stopped…. On the contrary, it has started on a new level.”
Vlasenkov told the Russian news agency Tass the talks are moving at a “slow pace.”