Unlike the secessionist region of Somaliland, Puntland is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation.

Mrs. Semifragova traveled to this town near the secessionist region to hunt for her son, who was missing in action like hundreds of others.

The fighting to which he referred took place in the secessionist eastern region of Nigeria in the late 1960's.

Though he has been one of the most wanted men in Russia, his capture would not mark a turning point in the war with the secessionist southern region.

But the timing of the decree, set against new obstacles in the peace talks, mainly seemed aimed at reasserting Russian authority over the secessionist region.

Grozny was the scene of some of the Russian military's most humiliating defeats during the earlier war in the secessionist southern region, from 1994 to 1996.

But it brought no reprieve to the Russian President, who remains under attack at home and abroad for his military offensive against the secessionist southern region.

Gudermes, about 20 miles from Grozny, the capital of the secessionist region, was seized by the rebels last week.

Fighting intensified today in a secessionist Muslim region of southern Russia as Russian troops moved to surround and seal off the region's capital.

International reaction to plight of the civilian population in the secessionist region was diverse.