Russian group to meet Chechen rebel envoy

Representatives of a prominent Russian non-governmental organisation were on their way to London today for talks with a Chechen rebel envoy on ways to stop the war in Chechnya.

Valentina Melnikova, the head of the Union of Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers, a leading anti-draft group, said the group would meet tomorrow with Akhmed Zakayev, Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov’s envoy in London.