(26 Jan 1995) Russian/Nat
Russia's Security Council meeting on Wednesday insisted that the military operation in the breakaway republic of Chechnya was effectively over. It removed a hard-line minister as the co-ordinator of the Chechnya campaign but there was no move to pull Russian troops out.
Meeting in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin's powerful Security Council , whose decisions don't have to be approved by Parliament, signalled a change in the Chechnya offensive.
Two prominent council members, Defense Minister Pavel Grachev and Nationalities Minister Nikolai Yegorov, were relieved of their involvement in overseeing the war operation.
Council Secretary Lobov announced that Yegorov was being relieved of his duties as presidential envoy and Chechnya operation coordinator because of ill health. He will keep the posts of Nationalities Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
The Chechens regard both Grachev and Yegorov as directly responsible for the bloodshed and thousands of deaths since December 11.
The changes are meant to herald what the Kremlin calls the second stage of the Chechen operation - peace talks, economic revival and installing a pro-Moscow provisional government in the republic.
But there were no moves to withdraw the army from the breakaway province.
Lobov said army troops "will stay in Chechnya for the time being, but Interior Ministry forces will begin to play the primary role."
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