Prague, 3 September 1996 (RFE/RL) -- Russian security chief Aleksandr Lebed and Chechen rebel commander Aslan Maskhadov will "probably" participate in a session of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly later this month in Strasbourg, council officials told an RFE/RL correspondent today.
Both men would likely address a closed-door hearing of the parliamentary assembly's ad hoc committee on Chechnya in the late afternoon of the first day of the session -- Monday, September 23. The hearing is to discuss prospects for a long-term solution in Chechnya.
The assembly's week-long autumn session is due to end on September 28.
Lebed and Maskhadov were invited Friday to address the committee by its chairman, Ernst Muehlemann of Switzerland, who was visiting Moscow. Lebed accepted the invitation immediately.
Today, according to an Interfax report from southern Chechnya, Chechen rebel leader Ruslan Chimayev said that a list of rebel representatives who will accompany Maskhadov to Strasbourg has been prepared for the Council of Europe. Maskhadov himself will head the Chechen rebel "delegation," Chimayev said.