News

The surrendering militant said that Arab mercenaries had killed two other gunmen who wanted to surrender together with him, sources from the public relations centre of the Federal Security Service reported.

Yastrjembsky's statement that Russian special operations forces destroyed 17 Mojaheds (22 by another version) near Serzhen-Yurt and that one German and three Turkish citizens were among the people killed may turn to serious international embarrassing position for the Kremlin.

"After I was arrested by the Judge of the Moscow Circuit Court Martial I was subjected to torture and degrading treatment," reads the statement.

Almost 23,000 Chechen children have enjoyed their rest at health resorts in southern Russia in 2003. The Russian Government allocated 150 million rubles from the State Social Insurance Fund for the purpose.

Militia Lieutenant Colonel Khakiyev's car was fired by unknown people in the afternoon when he was on his business trip in the Sunzhensky district, Ingushetia.

Chechen police did not take any measures of force influence.

Chechen media will inform the public about the problems of landmines in the republic, according to the agreement made at the meeting between representatives of the Chechen press and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Grozny on December 24.

On December 23, police officer Aslan Magamayev was fired point-blank from the automatic by unknown people in camouflage uniform in the village of Gekhi, Chechnya's Urus-Martan district.

Last year 72 people died last year when two KamAZ trucks detonated near the administrative building. Over 200 people got injuries.

The destiny of the abducted is unknown yet. The Abkhazian security service is inquiring into circumstances of the incident, Sergey Shamba said.

Adjaria's refusal to take part in the election would be a catastrophe for Georgia and a "serious historic blemish" for the autonomous republic, in the opinion of Aslan Abashidze.

The commandant's office in a street corner in Grozny was bombed and shot by unidentified attackers at 10:53 p.m. on Sunday.

While opening the conference, Prosecutor of the Republic of Adygeya Mikhail Prikhlenko told that the main problem was the mass presence of Kurdish migrants in Adygeya.

Residents of South Osetia became very interested in the answer of Vladimir Putin on the question which he was asked by a spectator from Kabardino-Balkaria during a live translation.

In his article leader of the Abkhazian Diaspora in the U.S. Inal Kazanba points out that "the Diaspora has provided considerable financial and economic support to its motherland" but "in spite of this during the last decade the present regime in Sukhumi has never treated them as its equals, it means true Abkhazians."

According to the chairman of the National Self-Determination association, had the authorities just a little respect and love for Artsakh they would understand their main mission is to renounce the power. "In this case we will not only gain time but also will have a serious support," he thinks.

"Internews' Media Rights Institute urges all foreign diplomatic missions, in particular the Council of Europe, to which Azerbaijan was made a member in 2001, to voice their concerns that such legislation is not worthy of a government attempting to move toward democratic ideals," reads the statement by the organization.

Russian special operations forces captured two rebels. It follows from their evidence that the large part of the rebels has been destroyed before as a result of air strikes, another part is buried under a snow avalanche.

A meeting between parliamentary delegations of Armenia and Azerbaijan was held in Scotland on December 20 under the aegis of the South Caucasian Inter-Parliamentary Initiative and with the financial support of the London Information Network on Conflicts and State-Building (LINKS).

The seminar was organized by the Saint Petersburg Center "Strategy" and the Moscow Helsinki Group with the participation of the Ingush President's staff.