Opposition leaders in the Federation Council, Russia's upper chamber of parliament, geared up on Tuesday for their first clash with President Boris Yeltsin over the appointment of a new public prosecutor.


Although the council is led by a Yeltsin loyalist and is far less hostile to the president than the State Duma, its deputies tried to force Yeltsin to submit his candidate for public prosecutor, Alexei Ilyushenko, for confirmation and made clear they might not approve.


Yeltsin appointed Ilyushenko as acting public prosecutor to replace Alexei Kazannik, who resigned under pressure last month when the president pressed him to prevent the release of the leaders of the White House rebellion under an amnesty proclaimed by the Duma.


Since then Kazannik has said he wants the council to reject his resignation and longtime opponents of Yeltsin have made it clear they are determined to keep Kazannik.


One of Yeltsin's aides, Georgy Satarov, said Ilyushenko's candidacy would be submitted to the council, but Satarov said the council did not have the right to reverse the removal of Kazannik.


The chairman of the council, Yeltsin supporter Vladimir Shumeiko, said he had convinced the council that it could not yet vote on the public prosecutor because the president had not submitted a candidate, and the council had not yet adopted its own statutes to allow it to vote on presidential appointments.


Some parliamentarians said they were miffed because Yeltsin appointed Ilyushenko as a temporary replacement without asking the council for approval, as required by the constitution.


Vasily Starodubtsev, a deputy and one of the leaders of the August 1991 coup who were also granted amnesty, said Kazannik should remain as public prosecutor because his decision to abide by the Duma's measure showed he would not just follow Yeltsin's orders.


"He made a brave stand. He did not kneel to the president. He stayed on the side of the law," Starodubtsev said. "Such a public prosecutor should be supported."


Maya Ettyryntyna, a former Supreme Soviet deputy who joined the White House rebellion in October, added that many deputies did not like Ilyushenko because he had taken part in a presidential committee last summer that accused former vice president Alexander Rutskoi, leader of the rebellion, of corruption.


In an another sign that the Federation Council may be becoming more hostile to Yeltsin, deputies also demanded that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin appear to explain how he plans to solve the debt payment crisis that has interrupted production in many regions.


Shumeiko, although a Yeltsin ally, told the council that he had agreed with the chairman of the State Duma, Ivan Rybkin, to get parliament to declare a state of emergency for the Russian economy.


Yeltsin on Monday left for the Black Sea resort of Sochi to recover from a recent bout of flu.