MOSCOW'S fiercely nationalistic parliament, swallowing wounded pride over defeat in Chechnya, voted overwhelmingly yesterday to give amnesty to Chechen fighters in an effort to win freedom for Russian prisoners-of-war.
The amnesty, which officials said will become law after a final vote next Wednesday, gives carte blanche to a presidential commission to free Chechen and other detainees whenever they can be exchanged for those in captivity in the breakaway region.
Excluded from the amnesty, however, are a number of crimes, including "banditry", which could be very broad.
The Duma has consistently refused to grant amnesty to the likes of "public enemy number one, Shamil Basayev, who led a bloody hostage-taking raid on the Russian town of Budennovsk in 1995.
The amnesty, approved by 235 votes to 39 in the State Duma lower house, ordered criminal cases to be dropped against those who committed acts in Chechnya and the surrounding regions between December 1994, when President Yeltsin ordered troops in to crush the Chechen separatists, and December 1996.
Meanwhile, President Yeltsin and the Belarus leader, Mr Alexander Lukashenko, agreed yesterday to push for closer union between their two Slav states and reiterated their common hostility towards NATO's eastward expansion plans.
Mr Yell sin, who looked energetic and fit, said Moscow was committed to seeking stronger ties with its western neighbour.
"Commonwealth with Belarus is the common desire of our peoples and we will not deviate from this path," said Mr Yeltsin. The two leaders signed a joint declaration that called for integration of their countries' customs fiscal transport and energy systems and synchronisation of economic reforms.