Yeltsin praises Tatarstan as talks with Grozny begin

Yeltsin praises Tatarstan as talks with Grozny begin

KAZAN, Russia (Reuter): Russian President Boris Yeltsin began
the last week of his election campaign yesterday with a visit to
independence-minded Tatarstan, holding it up to Chechnya as an
example of harmony with Moscow.

"You took as much autonomy as was needed for Tatarstan's
prosperity and Russia's integrity," Yeltsin told local leaders in
the regional capital Kazan, 800 kilometers east of Moscow. Kazan
was conquered by Russia's Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th
century.

Yeltsin, 65, was referring to a power-sharing treaty
negotiated in 1994 in which Tatarstan compromised over its
demands for independence from Moscow. But he had one eye on
Chechnya, where an 18-month war has hurt his chances of winning
re-election next Sunday.

Russian officials and Chechen rebels met in the neighboring
republic of Ingushetia yesterday to try to bolster a fragile
truce. But big obstacles remained to a quick deal to end conflict
which has killed more than 30,000 people.

Chechen rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov dismissed Yeltsin's
efforts to reach a peace agreement as electioneering.

"This is just a pre-election stunt. The only thing we feel
from their side is an attempt to make it look as though there are
talks going on everywhere so they can have their elections," he
told reporters.

Yeltsin, on the final stage of his election battle against
communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, regards Tatarstan's
relationship with Moscow as a model for Chechnya to follow.

Like Chechnya, Tatarstan sought a form of independence. But
its President Mintimer Shaimiyev finally agreed to accept its
status as part of Russia in a deal which gave it more autonomy
than any other region.

Yeltsin was accused of contributing to the break-up of the
Soviet Union by saying in 1990 that ethnic regions should take as
much autonomy as they needed.

But Yeltsin, who leads opinion polls and is confident of
victory despite their poor track record in Russia, is expected to
reap some reward by getting many votes from Tatarstan next week.

"It was here that the word autonomy was understood correctly
and I can tell you frankly this was successful," Yeltsin told
about 1,000 local officials.

Outside, he was received warmly by about 2,000 people gathered
in the rain. He looked fit and healthy as he talked to the crowd
and visited a site where a cathedral and a mosque are being built
side by side.

"This mosque and this cathedral will forever be a symbol of
the equal co-existence of Orthodox Christianity and Islam on the
land of Tatarstan and in all Russia," he said.

Yeltsin was due to head for Novosibirsk in Siberia later
yesterday and will then go to the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
Zyuganov had no major meetings scheduled for yesterday.

Yeltsin's attempt to limit the political damage of the
conflict in Chechnya hit another snag on Saturday, when masked
gunmen killed a senior Chechen official in the latest cease-fire
violation.

Chechnya's pro-Moscow government accused an international
mediatory mission, and particularly its chief representative Tim
Guldimann, of exceeding its authority in Chechnya.

The criticism raised questions about Guldimann's future
heading the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) mission based in the Chechen capital Grozny.

"We welcome the OSCE as a peacekeeping organization but its
representative Guldimann has taken an obviously one-sided stand
regarding Chechen developments," Interfax news agency quoted
Moscow-backed Chechen Prime Minister Nikolai Koshman as saying.