PRESIDENT Yeltsin has finally broken his silence to his security chief Gen Alexander Lebed, who is due to fly today to Grozny to finalise a peace deal with what he believes is the president's backing. But, while the shooting war in Chechnya had ended, there were signs that the political battle in Moscow was hotting up.
A meeting of leading government ministers headed by the Prime Minister, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, a strong political enemy of Gen Lebed, announced that the peace plan was flawed and needs "major improvement".
Gen Lebed, who was left cooling his heels for six days to see if Mr Yeltsin would approve his plan, told reporters in Moscow that he had spoken to the president by phone at his holiday hunting lodge in Zavidovo, 96km north of Moscow, and had been given the go ahead to sign an agreement with the Chechen rebels.
It was unclear if the proposed deal involved changes to the original peace plan or if it would need further negotiations with Chechen leaders.
The announcement indicated that, for the moment at least, Gen Lebed has an advantage over those in the Machiavellian Kremlin entourage who want to see him ousted from power.
Public opinion also seems to be strongly in Gen Lebed's favour. Leading Moscow newspapers have thrown their weight behind an anti war demonstration due to take place in Moscow on Sunday and organised by leading democratic political groupings.
Characteristically, Gen Lebed, who has stressed that he is not a democrat, has spurned the organisers, who include the former prime minister, Mr Yegor Gaidoar, and leading anti war campaigners, Mr Sergei Yushenkov and Mrs Galina Starovoitova, whom he described as "previously unknown in my circle of friends who wish to present themselves supporters of my work to establish peace in Chechnya".
Mr Chernomyrdin's spokesman, Mr Viktor Konnov, said yesterday that the Prime Minister was "extremely worried" by aspects of the plan, by ceasefire violations and by reports that rebel Chechens were setting up their own government structures.
