March 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 30, 1423

MOSCOW, March 3: Russia said on Monday it will withdraw more than 1,000 troops from Chechnya this month, just ahead of a constitutional referendum aimed at showing a return to normality in the war-torn republic.

The head of the Russian armed forces, General Anatoly Kvashnin, said the troops would begin to be pulled out on Wednesday, the Interfax news agency reported.

“Given the growing normalisation on most of the republic’s territory and the transfer of powers to the interior ministry, the plan provides for the withdrawal of troops and units which had been providing security and support for regular troops against terrorist groups,” defence ministry spokesman Nikolai Deryabin said.

Russia describes as terrorists the Chechen separatists against whom Moscow has been waging an anti-insurgency campaign since October 1999.

The ministry will also remove around 200 items of military hardware, the spokesman added.

The 42nd motor-rifle division and other units will remain “to hunt down and eliminate the remnants” of the separatist forces, he said.

The evacuation will have “no consequences” for security in Chechnya, Kvashnin said, noting that the troops to be pulled out were “unnecessary, having carried out their task in Chechnya,” he said. The military chief said the situation in the breakaway republic was improving all the time and stressed that “defence ministry forces are not at present active in the non-mountainous regions (of Chechnya) and have transferred all their functions to the interior ministry.”

Russia, which has around 80,000 troops in Chechnya, has been seeking to convey an improved atmosphere in the republic ahead of a March 23 referendum on a new constitution.

The poll aims to fix Chechnya’s place in the Russian Federation and provide the basis for what the Kremlin is presenting as a political settlement to the long-running conflict.—AFP