State Duma Members To Recommend That Putin Should Declare State Of Emergency In Chechnya.

Duma deputies who are members of a group that visited Chechnya at the beginning of March so as to assess the situation there intend to submit a drafted resolution to the State Duma. The resolution recommends that Acting President of Russia Vladimir Putin should immediately declare a state of emergency in the whole territory of Chechnya and introduce direct presidential rule there. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Defense Alexey Arbatov said this at a meeting with military attaches of foreign countries in the State Duma. In his view, a state of emergency would allow for resolving a problem of absence of a legal framework for actions of the federal forces in Chechnya and would facilitate a reduction of losses among the military as well as among civilians. The drafted resolution recommends that the Russian government should suggest amendments to the budget for 2000 so as to finance anti-terrorist operations in Chechnya. The war in Chechnya causes unplanned budget expenditures of several billion rubles a month, Arbatov pointed out.