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In the opinion of Matthew Bryza, assistant of the US undersecretary of state, no military alternative of settling the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict can ever exist, since it will only aggravate the fundamental disagreements that make the core of the conflict.

In St-Petersburg, a man who committed a crime on the motive of national hatred against natives of Azerbaijan is sentenced to five years of prison. The verdict was passed by the Kalinin District Court of the city.

In Georgia, the pressure on oppositionists is still exerted. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Kakhaber Dzaganiya, ideological secretary of the Labour Party of Georgia.

David Petrosyan, a political analyst of the News Agency "Noyan Tapan", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that Armenia de facto fails to follow the requirements of the recent PACE session as presented in Resolutions No. 1609.

Relatives of Issa Arsaev, who was killed on May 8 in Kantyshevo village, Nazran District, have stated to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the casualty was not a terrorist and did not prepare any terror acts.

Today, Matthew Bryza, assistant of the US undersecretary of state, has arrived to Georgia with an official visit. At the "Tbilisi-Marriott" Hotel, he had a meeting with the leaders of the United Opposition to discuss the forthcoming parliamentary elections and the events currently underway in Abkhazia.

Abas Abasov, one of the suspects of organizing the murder of Farid Babaev, leader of the Dagestan Regional Branch of the "Yabloko" Party, was freed under recognizance not to leave.

The conflict around the "Vostok" (East) special-purpose battalion, which is commanded by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff (the so-called "GRU"), continues to escalate. The investigation now possesses new information about possible involvement of special fighters in one more crime.

Today at night, in the centre of Tbilisi, a policeman has shot dead Giorgiy Gamtsemlidze, an activist of one of the electoral offices of the ruling party of Georgia - the United National Movement.

At the trial of the activists of Armenian opposition, the women-eyewitnesses in the case have stated that their earlier evidences that the three defendants had hampered the election process on February 19 were made under pressure, and rejected them.

Kakhaber Shartava, one of the leaders of the United Opposition and leader of the National Forum Party, has accused the governor of the Kvemo-Kartli District of bribing and intimidating local voters. The governor rejects the accusations.

The parents of the students who came to Stavropol from Chechnya and Ingushetia to get their education are concerned with frequent murders "of Caucasus-origin nationals" committed in this city and want to take their children away.

A court in the Astrakhan Region has appointed three years of conditional imprisonment to the doctor who had refused to provide free-of-charge hospitalization to a seven-year-old boy with a compound arm fracture; with the result that later surgeons had to amputate the arm.

The United Opposition has promulgated another revelatory video record. It depicts Goderdzi Bukiya, one of the candidates from the party in power "United National Movement", who confesses that he is engaged in business.

On May 6, the centre of Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, was the venue of celebrations dated to the four-year anniversary of the first issue of the "Elista Panorama" newspaper; the event grew into a spontaneous rally.

Today, the Ulyanovsk Regional Court has upheld the decision of the City Court of Dimitrovgrad to reject to apply the early conditional release to former colonel Yuri Budanov who is serving his ten years' term for murdering Elza Kungaeva, a resident of Chechnya.

The court has added two months to the term of pre-trial custody of Ararat Zurabyan, leader of the oppositional Armenian All-National Movement, as Karen Karapetyan, a member of the Movement Board, has informed.

Leaders of human rights and other public organizations of Chechnya are concerned with slow rates of de-mining the territory. They also are dissatisfied with the intention of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies to finance mine clearing in Serbia and forget about mines in Chechnya.

Maxim Shevchenko, a member of the Public Chamber and head of the Centre for Strategic Researches of Religion and Politics in Modern World, has treated the judicial decision on the claim of the Ministry of Property and Land Relations of Dagestan against the Regional Public Foundation "Charitable Women's Hospital" to be a tragedy and disaster.

Valery Giorgobiani, a candidate for majority deputy in the Tsager Constituency of Georgia from the party in power United National Movement, has refused to take part in the elections after his compromising audio record was made public.