News

Minsk is still studying "the complex issue of the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia." This was stated on July 28 by Sergey Martynov, Foreign Minister of Belarus, at a press conference on results of his meeting with the EU's ministerial "troika".

Christophe Strasser, Rapporteur of the PACE on Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan, is concerned with the arrest "under contradictory circumstances" of two activists of civil society - Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade, while deputies of the European Parliament have expressed their concern in a corresponding address to Azerbaijani ambassador in Belgium, Luxembourg and European Union.

In a combat skirmish that burst out on July 28 in the Urus-Martan District of the Chechen Republic four supposed members of armed underground groupings were killed. There are no losses among power agents.

The representative of the Yamadaev family in the Chechen Republic has confirmed that in Moscow an attempt was made on Isa Yamadaev, brother of Sulim Yamadaev, former commander of the "Vostok" special-purpose GRU battalion; however, the relatives gave no details of the incident. A source in Chechen power agencies has noted that there was no attempt; but Isa wanted by making this statement to damage the reputation of Ramzan Kadyrov, President of the Chechen Republic.

Khachatur Sukiasyan, a supporter of the off-the-parliament oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC) and a Deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia, who is searched by law enforcement bodies on charges of organizing the events on March 1, 2008, in Yerevan, has no plans to surrender to the authorities, as he believes that he committed no crime and is still under the parliamentary immunity.

Rustam Mukhadiev, a suicide bomber who committed a self-killing act in the evening on July 26 at the national theatre-and-concert hall in the centre of Chechen capital, was brought up by a difficult family: his parents were divorced.

Semnebi: EU plans to go on working in Abkhazia

Law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia continue investigating the circumstances of the explosion that took place near the house of Aslambek Sagov, Mayor of the city of Magas, the republic's capital, about last midnight; the house is located in Gamurzievo settlement of the city of Nazran.

Members of eight families of forced migrants from the Prigorodny District of North Ossetia and Chechnya, and one needy family, who live in a barrack in Yuzny settlement, Malgobek District of Ingushetia, complain to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent of their violent eviction.

US vice-president Joseph Biden who has recently made a visit to Georgia voiced a number of critical remarks addressed to the opposition during his meeting with its leaders in the Marriot hotel in Tbilisi. In particular, Biden criticized the actions of protest by the opposition and the fact that its representatives call Mikhail Saakashvili illegitimate president.

The suicide terrorist Rustam Mukhadiyev who made an explosion on the evening of July 26 near the concert hall in Grozny, was member of the unit headed by field commander Usman Muntsigov, better known as "Shatral", claim Chechen law enforcement agencies.

The persons who have a NKR visa in their passport can not enter Azerbaijan. The Azeri MoFA has announced that, at present, the list of representatives of different countries who visited Nagorny Karabakh and the organizations which work with its authorities is being revised.

On July 27, a man who put up armed resistance was killed in the course of a special operation in the mountain district Urus-Martan in Chechnya. The special operation was conducted near the village of Alkhazurovo where search for members of armed units is under way. Efforts to identify the victim are made.

Five of the eight members of the group killed in Dagestan in the course of a special operation conducted on July 28 carried passports of Kazakh citizens, report law enforcement agencies.

A second five-party meeting on preventing conflicts and investigating incidents at the border of Georgia and Abkhazia has taken place today in the border town of Gali.

Peter Gabriel, well-known singer from the United Kingdom and former leader of the group Genesis, paid tribute to the memory of Natalia Estemirova, Chechen human rights activist and journalist, while singing on Saturday, July 25, at the musical festival WOMAD in England.

Today, nominations to the post of ombudsman have been moved in the Georgian parliament. The parliament majority party "United National Movement for Flourishing Georgia" has nominated lawyer Georghi Tkhugushi, member of the European Committee against Violence who has been working in the ombudsman's office for five years.

The actions of the human rights activists who demand dismissal of Рamzan Kadyrov from the post of Chechen president after the murder of Natalia Estemirova, employee of "Memorial" human rights center, meet geopolitical interests of the West. This has been stated by Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov, chair of Chechen parliament.

In the course of restoring the Jewish quarter of Tskhinval, capital of South Ossetia, the builders pull down houses which are part of the architectural reserve. This has been reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Nelli Tabuyeva, head of monument protection section at the South Ossetia Ministry of Culture.

Consequences of the murder of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, new kidnappings and murders in "hop spots" of North Caucasus, visit of US vice-president Joseph Biden and subsequent decisions of the authorities and opposition, new manifestations of fight against freedom of thought in Azerbaijan - look up these events in the review of the week from July 20 to 26 prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".