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Chechnya peace plan could backfire on Yeltsin

MOSCOW: Russian President Boris Yeltsin's faltering bid to bring peace to Chechnya has revived questions about his ability to control the army and critics say it could badly dent his hopes of re-election if it fails.

Few expected Yeltsin's announcement of a halt to Russia's military offensive on March 31 to end fighting immediately. Some saw it as the first gambit on the way to peace, others as a vote-catching manoeuvre before June's presidential poll.

But most doubters expected the plan to be disrupted by Chechen separatist rebels -- not the Russian air strikes and shelling that have been reported in some parts of Chechnya in recent days.

Russia's armed forces say they have been carrying out "special operations" to keep the rebels at bay but that they have now stopped major offensives. Critics say some generals are out of control and want fighting to continue at any cost.

"What we have seen shows Yeltsin does not control the armed forces and cannot have an effective influence on ending the Chechnya conflict," Sergei Yushenkov, the liberal former head of parliament's defence committee, told Reuters.

Calling for changes in the armed forces, he said: "If Yeltsin does not do something decisive in personnel policy in the armed forces, he will not win the election."

Russia's armed fores have been in disarray during the painful transition to a market economy, caught up on occasion in the political ruptures that have accompanied it.

In 1993, the army hesitated before following Yeltsin's orders to use force in putting down an armed communist- nationalist rebellion against his rule.

The action left the president heavily indebted to his generals, but the general improvement in conditions many expected for the armed forces has been little in evidence. Many soldiers have been left without pay for long periods.

Chechnya added humiliations and heavy losses to the hardship. The decision of newly-retired general Alexander Lebed to run in the June poll underlines dissatisfaction.

The overall picture from Chechnya is unclear. Russian casualty figures show a higher average daily death toll than in the period preceding the peace plan, suggesting heavy fighting.

But Russia's military command in the rebel region went to rare lengths on Tuesday to dismiss speculation that its troops have gone out of control.

"We consider that reports saying the troops are out of control and continue military actions are provocations aimed at discrediting the armed forces," it said.-Reuter