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General Koba Kobaladze, former commander of the National Guard of Georgia, accused of preparing a putsch, is on his 11th day of hunger strike at the pre-trial isolation facility, as reported on May 17 by his advocate Gela Nikolaishvili.

In the village of Mairtup, Kurchaloy District of Chechnya, power agents have violently beaten two local residents. One of the villagers told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the incident took place last Saturday, on May 16. Local residents believe it to be arbitrariness.

A source from Chechnya's MIA asserts that the special operations aimed at searching and liquidating the militants, who hide in the mountain areas of Chechnya and in the vicinity of the administrative border with Ingushetia, will be conducted until all the militants are liquidated.

The Investigatory Department for Chechnya of the Russian ICPO has stated that they see no obstacles for interrogating Isa Yamadaev, brother of Sulim Yamadaev, former commander of the "Vostok" battalion, outside Chechnya, but Isa should have valid reasons for non-appearance under the summon.

As reported today by the police, they found the body of Nazaret Berberyan, a US resident of Armenian origin, who had disappeared earlier in Armenia, with traces of violence.

Today, the end of the Akushinskogo Street in Makhachkala was blocked by 30 townspeople, who demanded from a local businessman to stop his construction on the road.

In Chechnya, two of the four local residents detained on May 10 by power agents are still kept in custody, and two were set free. Law enforcement bodies of Chechnya have reported that these men - residents of Bachi-Yurt village, Kurchaloy District, were detained by militia for stealing horses.

Ilez Gardanov and Ilez Gorchkhanov, detained on May 14 near Sunzha River in the Pliev Municipal District of Nazran, were severely beaten and tortured by law enforcers. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it from Gardanov's mother Raishat. She asks President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Evkurov to interfere into the matter.

On Monday, several dozens of oppositional activists held a protest action by blocking the Vazha-Pshavela Avenue, one of central streets in Tbilisi, where the "Rustavi-2" TV Company is located.

On May 26, the country's Independence Say, the Georgian opposition plans holding a "grandiose rally" in Tbilisi with a demand of Mikhail Saakashvili's resignation. At the same time, its leaders complain of reduced number of protesters.

On May 15, a broad-scale special operation with participation of units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Federal Troops was launched in the mountainous part of Chechnya.

At the Georgian festival "Tbilisi Open Air - Alter/Vision" held in Tbilisi in parallel with Moscow's "Eurovision", everybody performs what he or she wants and everybody has the right to express one's opinion. This was stated by Anna Sikharulidze, organizer of the festival.

The young men, whose liquidation was reported today by the MIA of Chechnya and who were named as helpers of the suicide-bomber who committed the terror act in Grozny on May 15, did not render any armed resistance to militiamen. Natalia Estemirova, representative of the HRC "Memorial", told about it to the "Caucasian Knot" with reference to eyewitnesses.

On May 12, in the semi-final round of "Eurovision", at the background of the duet from Armenia the symbol of Nagorno-Karabakh - the monument "We and our mountains" was shown. Under the pressure the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, the organizing committee of "Eurovision" removed this fragment from the caption.

Russian frontier guards have started improving the border of South Ossetia with Georgia. Six frontier outposts for Russian and Ossetian militaries have already been set up.

For the fifth time already, Armenia holds the action called "Night of Museums" and dated to the International Museums Day. Today, from 6:00 p.m. till midnights the doors of 17 Yerevan and 6 regional museums located in Syunik, Shirak and Lori will be broadly opened for the public.

Abkhazia will not take part in the fifth round of Geneva debates planned to be held on May 18-19. This was stated by Sergey Shamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia.

Last night, an off-road hotel and a sauna, situated in the Malgobek District of Ingushetia, were shelled from grenade launchers, as reported by a source in Republic's law enforcement bodies.

The MIA of the Chechen Republic reports about liquidation in Grozny of four militants who planned a series of wide-scale terror acts in the city. According to the militia, they all were members of the same grouping as the militant who blew himself up on May 15 at the MIA headquarters.

On the International Family Day, May 15, the government of the Karachaevo-Circassian Republic (KCR) decorated mothers having many children with the medal "Mother's Glory". Fifty mothers who have brought up five and more children were awarded.