GROZNY, Russia Two senior Chechen officials have been shot dead in the latest violence to rock the breakaway Russian region, the authorities said on Saturday. Shamsudi Uvaisayev, a security minister, and Ruslan Chimayev, a former foreign minister, were shot dead along with two members of their escort during the night in a mountainous part of the Caucasus province, an official told Reuters. He said an investigation had been launched, adding that a field commander whom he declined to name was believed to be responsible for the killings.

But this is not a terrorist act, this is the result of some private squabble between those involved, the official said. Chechnya has been ravaged by lawlessness including shootings and kidnappings since the end of its 20-month war of independence against Russia in August 1996. Tension has been running especially high this month since the abduction of President Boris Yeltsin's personal envoy to Chechnya, Valentin Vlasov. ITAR-TASS news agency said on Saturday that Vlasov might be freed in the near future in exchange for the release of an official from the Russian Republic of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, who was arrested recently in Moscow. But Tass also quoted Chechen officials as saying Vlasov's whereabouts were still unknown, contradicting comments made by Russian Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin on Friday. (Reuter)