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Show A6 The Salt Lake Tribune WORLD Friday, April 28, 2000 Moscow MayNegotiate With Chechnya Putin backs off talk of military win, swaps peace proposals with rebel leaders THE ASSOCIATED PRESS with Maskhadov, but only if he gets the rebels to MOSCOW— With Russian troops bogged downin the mountains of Chechnya and suffering heavylosses, the Kremlin is hinting it mayno longerbe counting on an overwhelming military victory to end the war. Russian jets keep flying dailyair raids, and tens of thousands of federal troops are locked in a hit-and-run war in Chechnya. But President Vladimir Putin and othertop officials have toned downtheir harsh rhetoric of accepting nothing less than total victory. Therebels have defied Russian claimsthat theyare on the verge of defeat, repeatedly ambushing federal troops. The government, reacting to pressure from abroadandfaltering public support at home, admits it is talking with Chechen intermediaries about a political solution an’ would consider negotiating with rebelleaders. “With the war dragging on, at some point or an- other, Russia has to come to an agreement with the peopleit’s fighting against,” said Emil Pain, a former adviser to Boris Yeltsin who directs the Center for Ethno-Political Studies. While the governmentshowsnosign ofcalling off the military campaign,it has recently acknowledged swapping peace proposals through intermediaries with Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, nominal leaderof the rebelforces. The Kremlin has said Maskhadov, who has been seeking a deal with Moscow,could qualify for amnesty. Putin said last week that he was prepared for talks surrender. Such a deal with Maskhadovwould furthersplit the alreadyfractured rebel command and give Russia an important propaganda victory. Still, it’s not clear what negotiations with Maskhadov or any Chechenleader — could achieve. Several Chechensare vying for the top spot in the republic, but none has the authority to enforce a ceaseInterior Minister Vladimir Rushailo said the gov- ernment was working with at least two prominent Chechensoutside the rebel ranks: Bislan Gantamirov, who was pardoned and released from prisonlastfall to lead a pro-Moscowmilitia in Chechnya, and religious leader, Mufti Akhmad Alidkhadzhi Kadyrov. But neither is thought to have anyreal support in Chechnya. Thetalk of negotiations comes as Russian popular support for the war — initially high — has begun to slowly erode, according to Natalia Laidinen, a researcherat the independent ROMIR polling agency If the rebels counterattack this spring, as some analysts predict, support could evaporate. Moscowis under pressure from the West to end the only sour relations. Still, most Russians believe order must be brought to Chechnya. 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