Russia says Grozny will fall soon

Russia says Grozny will fall soon
REUTERS

MOSCOW, JANUARY 17: While Russian officials said they believed Chechnya's devastated capital Grozny would soon fall under Moscow's control, the rebel fighters signalled they were ready for partisan war and had no plans to surrender.

As Russian forces bombed and shelled rebel targets in Grozny and Chechnya's southern mountains, acting President Vladimir Putin braced for renewed western pressure to halt the military campaign and to begin peace talks with the Chechen leadership.

Putin was due to meet Lord David Russell-Johnston, President of the Parliamentary Delegation of the Council of Europe, on Monday in Moscow.

Russell-Johnston said Russia might face expulsion from the Council, which promotes human rights and democracy in Europe, if it persisted with its offensive, condemned by Western countries as excessive and indiscriminate.

When asked about the possibility of expulsion, he said: "This cannot be excluded."

Foreign countries have expressed particular concern for the plight of up to 40,000civilians trapped in Grozny. Television footage show residents cowering in dank cellars with almost no food, too scared to venture outside.

After meeting Putin, the council of Europe delegation is expected to make a fact-finding trip to the North Caucasus, including Russian-controlled Chechnya, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Deputy commander of Russian forces in the North Caucasus Gennady Troshev in a television interview on Sunday said the rebels could be driven from Grozny "in the near future". "Our troops will not leave Chechnya until the last bandit has been destroyed," he added.

Taliban recognises Chechen Govt
KABUL: Afghanistan's ruling Taliban Islamic Movement has become the first government to recognise the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya but said it could hardly give any help to Chechens in their conflict with Moscow. The recognition was approved by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar during a meeting with a Chechen delegation on Sunday at his headquarters in the southernAfghan town of Kandahar, Taliban foreign Minister Abdul Wakil Muttawakil told a Pakistan-based Afghan news service. Mullah Omar said that the Chechen government "can open its diplomatic mission in Kabul from Monday".