SOME people would call Chris Hunter a hero - others would hold a less charitable view of someone returning to help people in Chechnya after the ordeal fellow aid workers Jon James and Camilla Carr have been put through.

Ironically, the couple had gone to help children in the war-torn country to recover from the trauma of their horrendous experience.

After only two months in the Chechen capital they faced terrible traumatic experiences of their own and only time will tell if they will ever completely recover from physical, sexual and psychological mistreatment.

The area of the Caucasus Mountains has a long history of lawlessness and even the ruthless Soviet authorities had their hands full keeping the region quiet.

It is a clannish society where bandits, armed to the teeth, treat state rule with unconcealed contempt.

The breakaway from the Russian Federation by force of arms destroyed the country's social and ecomic infrastructure, leaving chaos in its wake.

When the war ended kidnapping became a major industry in the region with various criminal, religious and political groups grabbing anyone they could for financial or political gain.

Sensibly, most people in the West would probably agree to visit Chechnya at the moment only if accompanied by an armed guard consisting of the full complement of the British Parachute Regiment, the Special Air Service and backed up by three armoured divisions with overwhelming air support.

The fact that Mr Hunter has seen fit to return, if only sporadically from his headquarters in Moscow, is testament to his deep commitment to those he has vowed to help at whatever cost.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.