GROZNY. Nov 25 (Interfax-South) - The absence of safety guarantees for displaced persons interferes with these people's return to Chechnya, Chechen administration chief-of-staff and Security Council Secretary Rudnik Dudayev told Interfax on Monday.
"As long as there is no smooth teamwork between civil authorities and defense and security agencies to provide guarantees of the safety and legitimate rights for civilians in Chechnya, we will experience difficulties in having displaced persons return," he said.
"People would like to return to the republic, but expect their safety to be assured," Dudayev said.
"According to our reports, about 100 inhabitants of the republic have gone missing in one month," mainly in the villages of Kurchaloi, Tsotsin-Yurt, Mesker-Yurt, Chechen-Aul, Tsentaroi and Alkhazurovo, he said.
"We have been insisting that the problem of disappearances does exist. Sweep operations have been ended, and now people are taken from their homes in the night," Dudayev said.
Chechen republican leaders expect the disappearances to end, Dudayev said. "Now there is hope that the situation will change. The military has taken note of this problem. We have reached an understanding with them," he said.
The federal center gives close attention to assuring the safety of the civilian population and the return of displaced persons, Dudayev said.