News

Shell fragments damaged roofs of several houses.

To all appearances, the Russian military started conducting an operation to move extra military elements to Chechnya pursuant to the decree recently singed by the Russian president on the necessity to move extra police forces of 1,125 people to the republic.

"Investigators have every reason to suppose he is the man who was a committer of the May 9 terrorist act at the Dinamo stadium in Grozny, which left 7 people, including Chechen president Akhmat Hajji Kadyrov, dead," a source at the Chechen prosecutor's office said.

Three police officers were killed and another four wounded in a skirmish in the Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya on May 23.

An 11-year-old boy suffered in a grenade blast in the village of Chervlyonnaya, Chechnya's Shelkovskaya district.

Gali residents assert that under the pretext of searching for weapons, the Cossacks "raid houses of local people, terrorize them, extort money from them, and beat young men."

Two Kalashnikov automatic rifles and a Smith and Wesson revolver belonged to rebel Aslan Dzhabayev, who was destroyed by federal soldiers in May 2004.

One of the killed militants was identified as Said-Emin Elikhanov, 24, who led a militant group, another as Taus Udayev, 26, emir of the Wahhabi jamaat (society) of Chechnya's Urus-Martan district.

"That's a complete falsification. I have never given such interviews or said that Abkhazia wants to have its own national currency," foreign minister of the non-recognized republic Sergey Shamba said.

A ban has also been imposed on the works of all the nine Islamic theologians both medieval and modern and on the production of the five largest publishing houses that print Moslem literature.

The victory in the first round is possible on condition that a candidate wins 50 percent plus one vote given that the turnout is no less than 50 percent.

"Issues of the resolution of conflicts in Georgia will be considered as well, including the one concerning the possible introduction of the train service through Abkhazia," said Zurab Zhvania.

35 dwelling houses were reconstructed in the republic under the federal program from 2001 to 2003.

New banknotes are being printed by one of the largest French companies.

Chairperson of the South Osetian Central Election Commission Bella Pliyeva announced that "according to preliminary data, the Unity party will have two thirds of the seats."

As meeting with Tskhinvali residents, Eduard Kokoity said international funds and governments would not make South Osetia give up its desire to reunite with Russia irrespective of an amount of money they offered for that.

Beginning from June 4, they start holding permanent meetings and other actions of civil protest and disobedience, the opposition leaders said.

Danilbek Magomadov, a 26-year-old local, was captured by officers of security agencies in the Chechen village of Achkhoy-Martan. The officers arrived at the settlement in several cars without number plates and took the man away in an unknown direction.

Sulim Eldarov was one of the commanders subordinated directly to separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.

Movsar Ibragimov, a professor at the Moscow State Pedagogical University, was appointed Chechen Minister for Nationalities, Information, and External Relations.