RUSSIA: BUDYONNOVSK: HOSTAGE SITUATION UPDATE

Russian/Nat Russian President Boris Yeltsin flew to the G-7 summit in Halifax Friday despite criticism that he should not leave the country while the hostage crisis in southern Russia continued. Opposition politicians said Yeltsin had badly handled the siege in the city of Budyonnovsk which entered its third day Friday. But Yeltsin said he would be keeping in touch with the situation while abroad and bringing up the issue at Halifax. Russian authorities have begun talks with the Chechen rebel