Chechen rebels 'ready for dialogue'

MOSCOW, Russia -- A senior Chechen rebel envoy has contacted Russian officials about peace talks.

Akhmad Zakayev, a member of Chechnya's rebel government, said: "We are ready for real dialogue and a peaceful solution to this conflict."

Speaking on Russia's NTV television on Friday he said he had been appointed by rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov to open negotiations.

Zakayev said he contacted aids to Viktor Kazantsev -- President Vladimir Putin's envoy -- to set a time and place for talks.

Putin on Monday offered disarmament talks but said the rebels would have to accept his offer within three days.

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After the deadline expired on Thursday, Kazantsev said the rebels offered to open contacts.

But a top pro-Moscow Chechen official said on Saturday that Putin's offer to discuss disarmament was not an invitation to negotiate a peace settlement.

Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the Kremlin-appointed Chechen administration, said there were different interpretations of Putin's statement about disarmament talks, but "it does not say anything about negotiations," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

"There should be contacts with guerrilla representatives, but only on how and where rebels will hand over their weapons," Kadyrov said.

Kadyrov said there could be no dialogue with Maskhadov because he had caused too much blood to be spilled.

"He has taken too much blood, issuing an order to kill all those who are working together with the incumbent authorities," Kadyrov said in an interview with Interfax in Moscow.

If disarmament goes ahead, local pro-Moscow officials would check the record of rebels who surrender arms, issuing pardons if there is no evidence they were involved in killings, kidnappings or other serious crimes, said Kazantsev's spokesman, Valery Bunin.

Maskhadov fought the Russians in a 1994-96 Chechnya war and played a key role in negotiating the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Maskhadov released a statement Friday restating support for negotiations and insisting his force was not linked to terrorism, as the Russians claim.

He admitted though that instability in Chechnya had "created a good base for the activities of extremist groups."

Kazantsev said Putin had taken the "humane step" of offering Chechens the chance to surrender voluntarily.

"Today the possibility is again being granted to put an end to this war, which has been tiresome for everyone, and enter into a life of peace. Time is already ticking," he said.

But as the prospects of peace talks loomed, rebels continued to fire on Russian positions, killing at least nine servicemen in the past 24 hours, said an official with the Kremlin-appointed civilian administration for Chechnya.

Interfax news agency said the rebels had advanced on Shali, south of the regional capital Grozny, opening fire on the military commander's office, administrative building and police headquarters and setting fire to the court house.

It said four people were killed before the rebels withdrew before dawn, taking a number of dead and wounded with them.

The agency reported that the administrative building in the nearby town of Serzhen-Yurt had also been set on fire.

Rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov, speaking by satellite telephone, said rebels had staged attacks on several towns, with fighting raging throughout the day. He said up to 200 Russian troops had been killed.

"Heavy fighting is going on in a number of places. Our fighters are attacking Russian positions," Udugov said. "Out units now control most areas where attacks are occurring."