91.   In the Chechen capital Grozny Wednesday preparations were underway for a feared Russian offensive on Thursday at dawn.

92.   Intensive bombing and shelling resumed round the capital of separatist Chechnya early Thursday after a brief lull, amid expectations of a new Russian offensive on Grozny.

93.   A major Russian military offensive lasting several months has pushed rebel fighters out of several villages they were holding.

94.   A political solution is still a long way off, with the Chechens insisting on a complete halt to the Russian offensive before resuming peace talks.

95.   Bad weather on Saturday slowed up the Russian offensive.

96.   But the expiry time passed at dawn Thursday without the Russian offensive feared by Chechnya inhabitants who had converged on Grozny to defend their territory.

97.   But the remarks were made before the Chechen fighters repulsed the latest Russian offensive on the presidential palace in Grozny on Monday.

98.   But the moribund peace process has been shattered by a major Russian offensive launched last Tuesday after a ceasefire that held for six weeks.

99.   But the sources said they did not know whether he was wounded in the Russian offensive or as a result of squabbles among the rebels.

100.   Chechen forces, who claimed Saturday to have repelled a broad Russian offensive, have made no further statement.