Chechen leader fires government

Grozny - The leader of Russia's separatist region of Chechnya, defying calls to resign from former comrades in the war against Moscow, sacked his entire government yesterday. A spokesman for the President, Mr Aslan Maskhadov, said in the Chechen capital, Grozny, that the cabinet had been informed of its fate by Mr Maskhadov, who is also Prime Minister, in person.