Mujahideen Kill Nine Russians in Chechnya

Mujahideen fired on a military convoy in Chechnya's capital, killing nine Russian servicemen, an official said Friday, while election officials began planning for a referendum that the Kremlin hopes will push this war-ravaged republic toward stability.

About 530,000 Chechen residents and 38,000 federal troops permanently stationed in Chechnya will be eligible to vote in the March 26 constitutional referendum, said Alexander Veshnyakov, chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission.

«We will do all that is possible to create the conditions for a democratic and free vote», Veshnyakov said. Chechens must be able to ``cast their vote freely, with no one prosecuting them for participating or for not participating,'' he said.

Violence is still part of daily life in Chechnya, and many Chechens and human rights advocates have argued that the referendum will be a farce without first establishing peace.

The referendum would outline the divisions of power between Russia and the Chechen republic and pave the way for elections. It is seen as an effort by Moscow to consolidate its grip on the war-ravaged region.

President Vladimir Putin called for it last month, portraying the referendum as a key step toward resolving the three-year old conflict. Putin refuses to negotiate with Chechen's elected

president, Aslan Maskhadov.

In the last 24 hours, 15 servicemen were killed and 11 wounded in rebel attacks in Chechnya, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said on condition of anonymity. Nine of the soldiers died when their convoy came under Mujahideen fire Thursday in Jokhat, the capital. Two Mujahideen were killed in the fighting, and three more Russian servicemen were wounded.

Troops sealed off all roads leading into and out of one of Chechnya's largest towns, Argun, on Friday and detained 54 people suspected of collaborating with the rebels, the official said. More than 100 suspects were taken into custody in Jokhar and three other towns.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Svetlana Gannushkina, two veteran activists who now serve on Putin's advisory human rights commission, told a news conference Friday that refugees were eager to return home but feared going back until the security situation improved.

The two activists presented the results of a trip they took with Pro-Russian Chechen and Russian government officials late last month to investigate refugees' allegations that camps in neighboring Ingushetia were being shut down to force them to leave for Chechnya.

Russian officials consider the refugees' return as evidence that their normalization efforts are bearing fruit.

«People don't want to go back to Chechnya as long as drunken soldiers run riot every night and as long as there is a chance for terrorist attacks ... which are on the conscience not only of those who carry them out, but also of those who allow them to take place», Gannushkina said.