Moscow Wants Top Soldier To Run "Model Chechnya" In North
MOSCOW, Oct 6, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Russia wants to set up a "model Chechnya" in the northern third of the breakaway republic now under Moscow's control and name a military governor-general to run the territory, press reports said Wednesday.
"The final goal of Moscow is to create (in the liberated part of Chechnya) an attractive 'vision' for ordinary Chechens," the daily Vremya said, adding that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin opposed invading the Chechen capital, Grozny.
Moscow has announced plans to allocate funds to help reconstruct the region, creating jobs and rebuilding schools and hospitals as well as re-introducing Russian laws.
It also hopes to repatriate the more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to neighboring Ingushetia to the north of Chechnya to put pressure on the leaders in Grozny.
According to several Russian dailies, Putin on Tuesday suggested appointing a military "governor-general" with an indefinite mandate whose name will be announced "in the next few days." ((c) 1999 Agence France Presse)
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