950804

Chechen tension

eases despite

clashes, says Russians

MOSCOW: Three Russian soldiers were wounded in overnight attacks by Chechen rebels but Russian officials said tension was easing in the breakaway region after Sunday's military agreement, Interfax news agency said on Friday.

It quoted a Russian military official in the regional capital Grozny as saying small rebel groups had attacked army posts at least 15 times during the night.

But he said the attacks, which followed a televised appeal by Russian President Boris Yeltsin for rebels to comply with the military deal, were less intensive than before.

The official added that major fighting had ceased after Moscow and separatist rebels hammered out the agreement aimed at ending the seven-month conflict.

"There have been no active military actions in the last 24 hours," he said.

Under the accord, signed in Grozny, the rebels agreed to lay down most of their arms in exchange for withdrawal of most Russian troops from Chechnya.

Moscow, which sent tens of thousands of troops last December into Chechnya to quell its three-year independence bid, has agreed to scale its forces down to two 1,000-strong brigades.

Rebel military commanders say their forces are not involved in the latest attacks on Russian forces. They say they are carried out by Chechen guerrillas outside their control.

Yeltsin threw his weight behind the military deal in his televised speech on Thursday night.

"At present it is necessary to organise the disarmament of all illegal formations...This will become the basis for the withdrawal of Russian troops who have fulfilled their duties," he said.-Reuter