Boris Yeltsin Fires General Prosecutor

Meanwhile, President Yeltsin suddenly appeared in the Kremlin and after an extraordinary meeting with Nikolai Bordiuzha, head of his Presidential Administration, the presidential press service announced the retirement of Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Skuratov.

Mr. Yeltsin forwarded a referral to the upper house, the Council of the Federation, requesting Skuratov's dismissal. The General Prosecutor was signed into the Central Clinic Tuesday. According to GP officers, their boss was suddenly gripped by "cardiac pain."

The announcement of Skuratov's removal was followed by the news of the search at Sibneft. The search warrant was signed by Deputy General Prosecutor Mikhail Katyshev and the search, ending late in the evening, was in conjunction with an investigation launched after the Moskovsky Komsomolets's expose accusing Berezovsky of bugging the Yeltsin's telephone conversations (allegedly with the professional aid of Atol, an obscure firm also reportedly connected with Sibneft and other Berezovsky structures).

It looks like we have witnessed quite a conflict in the upper Russian echelons. In fact, the Berezovsky-Primakov confrontation had been apparent for quite some time; Berezovsky had lobbied for Chernomyrdin and was, of course, chagrined by Primakov's appointment. He had on more than one occasion voiced criticism of the Russian Cabinet's performance. And a real war broke out when the government tried to reduce Berezovsky's influence on ORT (Moscow's leading television company). Sergei Dorenko, "Vremia" news anchorman, known for being one of Berezovsky's cronies, once again went on the air January 30, after a period of absence, accusing Primakov of trying to usurp the President's power with the aid of a joint statement by power structures. The Premier presented its draft to the Federal Assembly recently. Berezovsky spoke of the document rather skeptically at the Davos forum and Primakov could not refrain from a sharp remark in his address. And now this move, if not authored by Primakov then by certain figures siding with him (the fact that there are quite a few in Russia's power structures ready to help the former chief of the foreign intelligence service against Berezovsky is generally known).

There is one aspect to the whole affair that remains unclear: how Yuri Skuratov fits into the pattern and the reason for his retirement. Reasons of health are not worth considering, because he appeared on NTV's "Man of the Day" January 27, dwelling on a new program to combat crime. On February 3 he was supposed to preside over an extended board meeting of the GPO. Apparently, resignation was the last thing on his mind. Presumably his resignation was "accepted" during Boris Yeltsin's birthday celebrations when Primakov and Burdiuzha visited him at Barvikha. That same evening Skuratov supposedly tendered his resignation. However, Operation Sibneft had been decided upon by the time. Was Russia's former top lawman against the search or was the confiscation of incriminating documents his parting gesture? Who was interested in replacing the General Prosecutor? Was it Yeltsin, wishing to have a more convenient figure at this post? Primakov counting on the appointment of someone he could rely upon, or Berezovsky trying to neutralize or at least cushion the GPO's action? Or maybe Skuratov's ousting is to be linked to the demonstrative strengthening of extremist organizations like the neofascist Russian National Unity and its march, which stunned many Muscovites, with law enforcement authorities keeping an equally stunning low profile?

There is a possibility that some of these questions will remain unanswered. It is not often that the Russian political arena becomes so strikingly like a movie thriller, and the same is true of leading politicians venting their emotions in public and not worrying about the means. Someone must have surely touched a couple of sore spots in rival political groups, and the stakes in the game were so high they decided wash their dirty linen in public, in front of television cameras, using public prosecutors and masked commandos.

Moscow