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Seven Russian servicemen die in Chechen fighting

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January 14, 2001 

NAZRAN-- (AP) - Seven Russian servicemen died and at least 10 were wounded in fighting in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, an official in Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration said Saturday.

Russian officials in Moscow said Saturday that the search for an American citizen taken hostage earlier this week had not yielded positive results and he was unlikely to be released soon.

Chechen rebels attacked Russian positions and checkpoints 22 times over the past day, including two clashes in the capital Grozny, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Four Interior Ministry troops were killed in one of the Grozny clashes, which lasted 30 minutes, the official said. Two other soldiers were killed and six were wounded in other attacks on Russian positions in Chechnya, he said.

In the southern Vedeno district, one soldier was killed and four were wounded when their armored personnel carrier hit a land mine, the official said.

Officials in Moscow were pessimistic over the chances for the quick release of Kenny Gluck, a worker with the aid group Doctors Without Borders who was seized Tuesday.

"There is not much chance for a speedy release," Vladimir Kalamanov, the presidential human rights envoy to Chechnya, told the ITAR-Tass news agency. He said there was no information about why Gluck was kidnapped, that his whereabouts were unknown and that no ransom demand had been made.

But Akhmad Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed head of the Chechen civil administration, said Saturday he believes Gluck would be freed.

"They will free him. They didn't take him hostage in order to kill him. The captors will demand a ransom or an exchange," Kadyrov said following a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, according to the news agency Interfax.

The seizure of Gluck prompted the United Nations and non-governmental groups working with the United Nations and the European Community to suspend operations in Chechnya, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Friday.

Gluck was seized by unknown armed men near the village of Stariye Atagi in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains south of Grozny, Doctors Without Borders said.

Hundreds of people, including foreign aid workers, have been taken hostage in and around Chechnya since the end of the previous, 1994-96 conflict. Kidnappers often demand ransoms of more than a million dollars for foreigners, and can be cruel to their captives to encourage payment.

Russia's government cited the wave of kidnappings in the region as justification to launch a military campaign in Chechnya in 1999. The revival of hostilities also followed a rebel incursion into a neighboring Russian region and apartment bombings in Moscow that killed about 300 people. Russia blamed the Chechens for the bombings.