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"The fact that large forces engaged in the operation in Dagestan have not succeeded in uncovering and destroying the militants for almost two weeks points that they are dealing with the people who are perfectly at home in the area and are supported by locals," Abubakar Makhmudov, an officer of Chechen law-enforcement agencies, holds.

The Charter is one of the fundamental documents of the Council of Europe, it supplements the European Convention on Human Rights.

A police department was fired at in the Chechen village of Petropavlovskaya. Two police officers were killed as a result.

The Serzhen-Yurt village administration rendered much help to set Ayub Bedigov free.

Vladimir Putin met Acting President of Georgia Nino Burdjanadze in the Kremlin on Thursday December 25. It was a face to face meeting.

2,500 pupils of the 9th form study various aspects of international humanitarian law (IHL) within the limits of such disciplines as history and social science.

The 12th meeting in the Georgian-Abkhazian Dialogue, a series of seminars on the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia and its peaceful resolution, was held in Stadtschlaining, Austria, on December 15-20, 2003. Participants discussed a political situation in Georgia and Abkhazia and opportunities that appear due to the change of power in Tbilisi.

"I am ready to accept all the responsibility for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and do not shift it onto anybody," stated President of Armenia Robert Kocharian.

One of the banners belonged to the so-called Abkhazian Battalion, which took part in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict under the command of Shamil Basayev. The other banner belonged to the so-called Central Front of the Ichkerian Armed Forces.

The military use the tactics of contactless elimination of the extremists. The latter are under ceaseless artillery and mortar gunfire and air strikes.

The model presented by sculptor Alan Karnayev was chosen to be the best one. This model represents a man and a sweet - a killed soldier and his immortal sole.

The conference "Ethnic and Social Problems in North Caucasus in Present Context" has been held at the Nevinnomyssk branch of the Stavropol Basic Medical College.

Elmira Suleymanova reported she has received 4500 complaints from the citizens in 2003. A little more than a half of them came within her authority as the ombudswoman and was taken for consideration.

The Azerbaijan Parliament regarded the decision of the Swiss Parliament as "appropriation of the role of a judge and intervention in internal affairs of the other state."

Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev stated that official Baku and specifically his department intend to activate efforts aiming at attaining a final solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

A large group of separatists was routed in Chechnya. Turkish, Algerian and German citizens were among its members. 17 separatists were killed as a result of a short combat.

When being stopped by police officers at the town exit, the kidnappers showed regional operations headquarters passes.

On December 11, there was a skirmish in a many-storied building on Ordjonikidze Street in Malgobek. An accidental passer-by, Bekkhan B. Kartoyev, 1953, was killed as a result.

Correspondents of ORT and NTV TV companies and of the Trud, Krasnaya Zvezda and Izvestiya newspapers are in the delegation. Representatives of Sukhumi authorities arrange special press-conferences for them.

The heads of law-enforcement agencies demanded that the members of the Organizational Committee cancel the Congress. Their demand had the nature of an ultimatum as they threatened they would institute criminal proceedings against all the organizers if they disobeyed.