A congress of the Chechen people will be held in Moscow on December13, announced Aslambek Aslakhanov, a deputy of the State Duma from the Chechen Republic

Mr. Aslakhanov said he would personally insist that both Chechen civilians and rebels send their representatives to the congress. "I will do everything I can to ensure that tight security measures be taken at the congress," he said. However, he ruled out the presence of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov at the gathering. "Our aim is to secure the return of all those who have left their homeland over the past decade," Mr. Aslakhanov stressed. For his part, Gennady Raikov, leader of the People's Deputy faction in the State Duma, said there would be no congress of the Chechen people in Moscow because the Russian President "has already said everything to the Chechen community". Indeed, Vladimir Putin met with members of the Chechen community on November 10. The President supported their calls for a political settlement of the Chechen problem and said that many aspects of their message were perfectly in line with his own position and the position of the entire Russian leadership.