News

They told the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" at the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan that as of 6:00 p.m. local time a total of 216,091 voters had taken part in the elections, or 26.84% of all the voters registered in those territories where elections are held.

On October 5, the day of local self-government elections, the NGO named "International Organization for Fair Elections and Democracy" held a parallel vote count in five cities of Georgia.

The voting totals at local self-government elections in the Abash electoral constituency (Western Georgia) will be annulled, and repeated voting will be appointed there.

Sergey Lavrov, minister of foreign affairs of Russia, spoke positively on of the outcomes of the meeting with his colleagues from Azerbaijan and Armenia, who came to Moscow to discuss the Nagorny Karabakh settlement.

Yesterday, October 5, Ramzan Kadyrov, Chairman of the government of the Chechen Republic, was 30.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin by his order relieved Major General Alexei Dorofeev from the position of the Head of the FSB (Federal Security Bureau) Administration of the Russian Federation for Karelia, reported on Thursday the press service of the head of the state.

Georgia has voted at local self-government - sakrebulo of districts and cities - elections. By preliminary data, by 6 p.m. Moscow time, 40 percent of total voters have taken part in the elections.

The press outlets of Azerbaijan and human rights activists regard the conviction of satirist Sakit Zakhidov to be a political order.

A representative of the Federal Migration Service of Russia told about the forthcoming changes of the visa-granting mode that may touch on citizens of Georgia.

On his birthday, Prime Minister of Chechnya Kadyrov declared that so far he has no presidential ambitions.

Today, the court for heavy crimes of Azerbaijan finished the trial on Mirza Sakit (Zakhidov), satirical journalist of the "Azadlyg" newspaper.

Yesterday, October 3, in the capital of Karachayevo-Cherkessia they continued hearing of the criminal case in relation to sixteen citizens of the Republic accused of killing seven persons in October 2004.

Cofi Annan, UN Secretary General, thinks that today it is difficult to settle the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict through negotiations, since in the course of years the positions of both parties on political status of Abkhazia diverged even more.

Liudmila Alexeeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) told in her interview to Radio Liberty that the law enforcement bodies may start detaining Georgian natives in Moscow.

Safety of Russian bridge-building battalion in Lebanon will be secured by platoons from battalions "West" and "East" of the 42nd division deployed in Chechnya.

The Russian servicemen charged of espionage in Georgia were handed over to representatives of Russia and went home.

During the two and a half months that the North Caucasus was under the amnesty in relation to members of armed formations, a total of 225 persons surrendered voluntarily in Chechnya.

One of the reasons for stopping the "Real Azerbaijan" newspaper was the pressure on the family of Einulla Fatullaev.

Today, the North-Caucasian Military Tribunal has resumed the trial on the case of Ulman and three special fighters of the Chief Reconnaissance Agency ("GRU") accused of murdering Chechnya citizens.

For the time being, Russia is not going to resume transport communications with Georgia, Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared. "So far, we are not," he told the journalists.