THE escalating conflict between the breakaway Chechen republic and the Russian government acquired a disturbing international dimension when rebel gunmen seized a ferry with 255 passengers in a Turkish port.

The move came as the Russian military sledgehammer continued to pound the Dagestan village of Pervomayskaya, where Chechen fighters still hold 75 hostages taken from a nearby hospital.

There are no blacks and whites in this increasingly intractable struggle, just varying shades of grey, frequently punctured by splashes of bloody red.

Both President Yeltsin - heavily influenced by the impending presidential elections - and Chechen leader Dzazokhar Dudayev have shown themselves capable of intricate duplicity and double-dealing.

Thus the dialogue between the two sides has been fraught with mutual suspicion and hidden agenda. Nonetheless, the old Chuchillian dictum - better jaw-jaw than war-war - remains the only realistic hope for a lasting settlement.

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