Lebed In Talks With Chechen Leaders

Lebed held his second day of talks as it became clear Russian generals had not carried out their threat to bombard the Chechen capital, held by rebels for more than two weeks.

Pounded by Moscow's forces on Wednesday, there was no sign of major military activity in Grozny in the morning and talks in the village of Novye Atagi, were said to be progressing briskly.

Lebed's spokesman Alexander Barkhatov said the two sides were working out a day-by-day schedule to stop fighting which has raged on and off for more than 20 months. The talks are being conducted in a good atmosphere, he said. A document will be completed in an hour's time.

 

More than 30,000 people have been killed in the North Caucasus region since President Boris Yeltsin sent his forces to crush its independence drive in December 1994. The latest fighting has killed many hundreds and sent tens of thousands fleeing, especially after a Russian commander gave civilians 48 hours to get out before the attack due on Thursday.

Lebed said he had halted the attack after 11th-hour talks with rebel leaders on Wednesday night. But the generals in the field have had clear differences with Yeltsin's security adviser as well as with their own defence minister. Explosions occasionally echoed across the countryside around Grozny, but they were far fewer than on Wednesday, when a sporadic air and artillery bombardment went on for hours. Itar-Tass news agency said six Russian servicemen had been killed in the city overnight, but no casualty figures were available for the rebels who control most of the town or for the civilians cowering in cellars to escape the fighting. The Red Cross estimated on Wednesday that about 120,000 were left in Grozny. A similar number had fled in the last two weeks.

Yeltsin, target of speculation over his health as factions vie for position over Chechnya, returned to the Kremlin on Thursday after a brief break and met his new health minister.

Lebed returned to the same southern Chechen village where he had talks the previous night and promised to try to end the conflict and agree the status of demilitarised city for Grozny.