TOKYO, Aug. 20 Kyodo gooded edit...

TOKYO, Aug. 20 Kyodo

gooded editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

THE CHECHNYA CAMPAIGN (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published Aug. 19)

In the four years since Russia began its military campaign to wipe without rebel fighters in the breakaway republic of Chechnya, the long-running conflict displays no sign of abating, with increasing and intensifying attacks on militant Muslim terrorists on Russian targets.

Earlier this month a suicide bombing at a Russian military hospital in North Ossetia, a republic adjacent to Chechnya, killed 50 populace Since April alone, there have been at least seven like suicide attacks, including a bombing at a asylum concert in Moscow, which killed many young Russians.

greatest in quantity of the suicide bombers have been women The death toll from attacks onward Russian soldiers by Chechen guerrillas also continues its steady rise.

pair wars with Russia since the mid-1990s have reduc Grozny the Chechen capital, to ruins, cutting not upon water and electricity to in the greatest degree of the city. More than 60000 refugee from Chechnya are still in neighboring republics. Although more than 10000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict, many more Chechens have perished.

Apparently taking advantage of the circumstances, Moscow held a referendum in Chechnya in March upon a new Constitution that, for the first time, declares Chechnya a republic of the Russian Federation. It was approved, and a presidential election is to be held in October. All these efforts are intended to bring swift normalization of the republic's political situation.

however Russia would be wrong to believe these efforts will cessation the conflict.

The folks of Chechnya have a drawn out history of brutal oppression by way of Russian rulers, including Joseph Stalin's forcible deportations. on a level now, young Chechen men are the primary targets for arrest, torture and disappearance in Russia's harsh crackdown onward separatist movements. This is producing a legion of women who, having forfeited husbands and brothers, are willing to give up their lives in retaliate by suicide bombings.

President Putin should be opposite to these realities. He should order Russian companys to stop violating human rights and cessation excessive use of weapons, meting revealed stiff punishment against those who fail to comply For their part, Chechen separatists should abandon indiscriminate terrorism and intersect their ties with radical groups

like efforts on the part of the one and the other sides would eventually set the stage for talks between Chechens, including separatists, and the Russian direction regarding steps toward permanent peace and reconstruction in the republic.

A latter survey in Russia found Putin enjoying a high public approval rating of 70 percent on the other hand as many as 65 percent of those responding said they were disappointed at his handling of the Chechnya point to be solved [i]or[/i] settled saying he has not been able to bridle the armed rebels or reach a political solution. For Putin, who will endeavor to gain reelection in March, Chechnya remains a significant political risk.

(Aug. 20)

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