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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Trapped
THOUSANDS OF anguished refugees hoping to cross the border both into and out of rebel Chechnya remained trapped at the frontier yesterday despite Russian promises to let them pass. A UN mission flew to neighbouring Dagestan to assess the humanitarian situation, six weeks into a massive Russian military campaign to crush Chechen Islamic guerrillas, Reuters reported.Russia shut Chechnya's borders nearly two weeks ago and said it had opened the border last week, but so far only a few refugees have been allowed to cross.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin interrupted a Black Sea holiday and returned to Moscow to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who came home late Tuesday after defending the military campaign at a meeting with US President Bill Clinton in Oslo. US officials said Clinton urged Putin to seek a political solution and minimise civilian casualties. Defence Ministry statements yesterday said that Russia had continued to launch air strikes and federal forces had occupied most of the area surrounding the second city, Gudermes.
