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I I I I I I I

12 November 1999

RFE/RL Specials

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MD1-Russia-Chechnya-Radio Russia: "Radio Free Chechnya" monitored

A radio station identifying itself as "Radio Free Chechnya" was monitored at 1300 gmt on 12th November 1999. The broadcast began with 30 seconds of light music, followed by a short snatch of ethnic music as a station identifier. A male presenter made the following announcement in standard Russian: "This is Radio Free Chechnya" [repeated twice].You can hear us every day from 0600 to 2400 hours [presumably Moscow time - 0300 to 2100 gmt] on the following shortwave bands: 17, 19, 25, 41 and 51 m. We also broadcast on the following mediumwave frequencies: 594 and 1089 kHz. You are listening to Radio Free Chechnya."

There followed a news bulletin read by a female presenter speaking Russian with a southern accent. Her delivery sounded hesitant and stumbling in places, and she did not pause between items. The selection of items and their tone suggested a strongly pro-Moscow line on Chechen policy.

The contents of the news bulletin were:

(1) Federal forces are clearing Gudermes of fighters; deputy head of Russian presidential administration Igor Shabdurasulov opposes any discussion of Chechnya at the OSCE summit in Istanbul; UN accuses Afghan Taleban of violating human rights; Israeli planes hit Lebanon.
(2) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has confirmed that federal forces are clearing Gudermes of fighters and the Russian flag is flying over the town. Putin also said Groznyy is now surrounded.
(3) The first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Igor Shabdurasulov, told Radio Ekho Moskvy today that the anti-Russian hysteria in a number of countries on the eve of the OSCE summit in Istanbul is designed to distract attention from the Kosovo problem. He said Moscow does not want Chechnya discussed in Istanbul.
(4) A Russian representative has told a UN General Assembly committee that the purpose of the federal operation in the North Caucasus is to rid Chechnya of terrorism and lawlessness.
(5) ITAR-TASS reports that all local staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross have now been evacuated from Groznyy. All foreign staff were evacuated in 1996.
(6) Another hostage - a 60-year-old resident of Shelkovskiy District - has been released by Russian police in Chechnya. During his captivity bandits demanded a ransom for him and cut off one of his fingers. In the end a ransom was not paid.
(7) Additional frontier checks have been introduced on the Russian-Azerbaijani border, Interfax reports. All vehicles, travellers and goods are being searched. Similar measures have been taken on the Chechen section of the Russian-Georgian border.
(8) Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent a greeting to the congress of Chechen expatriates in Moscow.
(9) Russian gas is being supplied to liberated areas of Chechnya.
(10) Russian budget revenues rose during the first nine months of this year.
(11) Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev today described the military-political situation in the world as extremely unstable. He was addressing Russian military chiefs gathered for a conference in Moscow. He described US and NATO aggression against Yugoslavia as a challenge to Russia. He said the problem of terrorism, funded and directed from abroad, was spreading inside Russia. He accused the USA of encouraging conflict in the North Caucasus.
(12) Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Pavlov says he will demand regular payment of the rent for the Baykonur space centre when he meets his Russian opposite number, Ilya Klebanov, in Astrakhan on 18th November.
(13) Russian salvage team are completing their inspection of the hull of a North Korean factory ship which ran aground off Kamchatka on 9th November.
(14) The UN has accused the Taleban of mass violation of human rights in Afghanistan. Its report was published in Islamabad today. The Taleban are accused of executing hundreds of Afghans.
(15) Yasir Arafat met Israel's security minister in Ramallah today.
(16) Israeli planes hit guerrilla targets in Lebanon today.
(17) A terrorist has seized the railway station in Poznan, Poland.
(18) Several car bombs exploded in Islamabad today. No Russian citizens were hurt.
(19) The trial of 25 terrorists accused of kidnapping foreigners, sabotage, robbery and car theft will start in Yemen on 12th November.
(20) 29 people were killed when a block of flats collapsed in Foggia, Italy.

The end of the news was followed by a sequence of Italian light music.

The BC-DX e-mail newsletter on 12th November gave the following schedule for Radio Free Chechnya, citing a report from Mikhail Timofeyev in Russia:

5935 0300-0600
7305 1830-2100
7335 0300-0500
7340 1430-2100
7355 1530-1800
15515 0500-1100
15605 1130-1400
17665 0630-1500