English/Nat

Chechnya's parliament has challenged efforts by the breakaway republic's president to recruit army reservists to combat crime, branding the move unconstitutional.

President Aslan Maskhadov wants reservists to be divided up into teams which, along with police, would take over strategic sites throughout Chechnya.

Since Chechnya's independence war with Russia, the republic has been wracked by violence - hundreds of people, including foreigners, have been kidnapped or murdered.

Thousands of army reservists reported to duty after President Aslan Maskhadov ordered them to be recalled to fight a wave of kidnappings and banditry.

Four foreigners - three Britons and a New Zealander - were murdered in the breakaway republic last week after being abducted more than 10 months earlier.

Another hostage, Frenchman Vincent Cochetel, was freed over the weekend but only after a Russian commando team rescued him following an intensive shootout.

The hastily called-up government reservists will be divided into teams to help police protect strategic areas around Chechnya.

One reserve commander said his men were ready to deal swiftly with any new kidnapping attempts.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)

(Q. Are you ready to react to further kidnappings?)

"We hope so, we can only hope. If there will be any attack we will be ready to go into action, we will strike back."

SUPER CAPTION: Isa Munaev, Commander of Reservist Division at Khankala

Hundreds of people have been abducted since the end of the 1994-1996 war with Russia, many of them foreigners, and the region has been declared a no-go area.

One of the few foreigners left in the war-torn region spoke with A-P-T-N about life in troubled region.

Polish citizen Igor Mikhailevsky has been working for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (O-S-C-E) in Grozny for the last five months.

He said the O-S-C-E was the last international group left in Chechnya and hoped that tight contacts with the Chechen government would provide them with the security they needed.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"We are the last representatives of the international world but we have good cooperative relations with the local authorities which are trying to meet our requests concerning the problems of security."

SUPER CAPTION: Igor Mikhailevsky, OSCE representative

But, for the time being, Chechnya is experiencing a reign of terror.

And - due to the lack of an extensive internal security programme - this situation is likely to continue.

Khankala/Grozny, December 13-14 1998

Khankala, Dec 13

1. Reserve soldiers at Khankala military base

2. Reservists gathering

3. Reserves at attention

4. Reservists

5. Reservists at attention

6. Reservists

7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Isa Munaev, Commander of Reservist Division at Khankala,

Grozny, Dec 14

8. OSCE headquarters in Grozny

9. Guards outside OSCE

10. OSCE armoured cars

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Igor Mikhailevsky, OSCE representative

12. Mikhailevsky gets up

13. Reservists on the streets helping police

14. Road block

15. Security check