Aide to Chechen President Seized by Russian Troops

The military chief of staff for rebel Chechnya’s president was captured by Russian commandos and brought to a prison in Moscow, officials said Friday.

Apti Batalov was seized by troops of the Federal Security Service in a raid Thursday in the town of Shali, 15 miles southeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny, an agency spokesman said.

Batalov was chief of staff to Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov and a close ally in Chechnya’s turbulent internal politics. Although his role in the fighting is not clear, the arrest apparently put new pressure on Maskhadov and his followers.

Maskhadov, however, has little influence over other rebels led by other Chechens.

Moscow had considered Maskhadov a relative moderate, and officials had given indications earlier this week that the Kremlin was seeking a political way out of the Chechen crisis.

But President-elect Vladimir V. Putin’s spokesman for Chechnya, Sergei V. Yastrzhembsky, said Friday that Russia will not hold talks with rebels unless they first lay down their weapons and hand over accused terrorists.

There have been no key changes--nor will there be--in Russian demands, he said.

Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov said Thursday that Moscow was conducting a direct dialogue with unidentified Chechens and predicted that it would “lead to concrete results.”

Yastrzhembsky said that Moscow has carried on unofficial talks with Maskhadov through intermediaries for several months, and that “nothing has changed.”

Yastrzhembsky also reiterated official accusations that the elected Chechen president is complicit in kidnappings, including not doing all in his power to free a French photographer believed held in Chechnya.

There has been a lull in fighting in Chechnya in recent days, but Russian warplanes took advantage of clear weather to resume bombing and strafing rebel bases in the southern mountains, the military command said. It said Russian jet fighters and bombers flew 39 combat missions since Thursday.